PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Mary  Cheves  Dulles  Fund. 


Division  DS207 

Section . 


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A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


AND 


A  SIEGE  IN  SANAA 


To  my  Mother 


The  Author, 

Damascus,  1908 


A 


,  nAft'  r';j; 


MAR 


T?  -f 


- ■  c- 1 ;;  *4  L  o 


MODERN  PILGRIM 
IN  MECCA 


AND  A  SIEGE  IN  SANAA 


BY 


A.  J.  B.  WAVELL,  F.R.G.S. 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 

SMALL,  MAYNARD  AND  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


PRINTED  BY 

IIAZELL,  WATSON  AND  VINEY,  LD. 
LONDON  AND  AYLESBURY, 
ENGLAND. 


PREFACE 


This  book  breaks  no  new  ground.  European  travellers 
have  before  now  given  better  and  fuller  accounts  of  the 
places  it  describes.  Still  the  journey  to  Mecca  and 
Medina  is  perhaps  an  experience  sufficiently  out  of  the 
common  to  be  worth  recounting  ;  especially  as  a  good 
many  years  have  gone  by  since  the  last  Englishman  to 
intrude  himself  into  those  places  told  the  story  of  his 
adventures. 

I  have  less  deference  in  writing  about  the  Yemen.  The 
events  in  that  country  are  worthy  of  a  chapter  in  the 
history  of  these  prosaic  days.  The  counter-currents  of 
human  interest  and  activity  that  run  up  and  down 
the  Red  Sea,  linking  the  civilizations  of  the  East  and 
West,  leave  undisturbed  this  backwater.  Western  Europe 
knows  little  and  cares  less  about  what  goes  on  there. 

Yet  for  the  last  twenty  years,  while  the  Turks  and 
Arabs  have  been  struggling  for  the  mastery,  the  history 
of  the  Yemen  has  been  one  of  fire  and  sword.  It  is  a 
record  of  battles  and  sieges,  places  taken  by  storm  and 
garrisons  starved  into  surrender  ;  of  savage  massacres 
and  fierce  reprisals.  Generals  have  made  and  lost  great 
military  reputations  there.  The  campaign  of  1911,  with 
which  this  book  deals,  probably  cost  nearly  as  many 
lives  as  did  the  Boer  War.  Nor  is  the  conflict  over  ;  it 
will  be  renewed  and  fought  out  to  the  end,  for  both  sides 
mean  to  win. 

Little  more  than  bare  references  to  these  happenings 
have  appeared  in  the  newspapers.  No  war  correspondents 
go  up  with  the  Turkish  armies  ;  there  are  no  foreign 
attaches  to  tell  their  countrymen  what  they  see.  The 
Turks  are  quite  satisfied  that  the  world  should  remain 


v 


VI 


PREFACE 


in  ignorance  of  what  is  happening  ;  they  ask  nothing 
better  than  to  be  left  alone.  It  is  by  virtue  of  being  the 
only  Englishman  to  witness  the  fighting  in  the  Yemen 
that  I  have  ventured  to  write  this  account  of  it. 

I  cannot  claim  any  scientific  value  for  this  work,  except 
in  so  far  as  spadework  in  exploration,  as  in  politics,  may 
have  its  uses.  To  some  extent  it  is  the  record  of  a  failure, 
but  I  am  not  without  hopes  that  the  narrative  of  my  own 
journey  may  help  other  travellers  to  go  farther  and  accom¬ 
plish  more. 

In  transliterating  Arabic  words  I  have  not  followed 
any  recognized  system.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  must  be 
more  trouble  to  learn  the  proper  use  of  the  accents  and 
diacritical  marks  than  the  Arabic  character  itself.  There¬ 
fore,  in  the  case  of  proper  names  I  have  stuck  to  the  con¬ 
ventional  spelling,  and  with  other  words  I  have  tried  to 
represent  the  true  sound  as  nearly  as  can  be  done  with 
the  ordinary  letters  used  in  English.  The  result,  I  admit, 
is  not  satisfactory,  and  inconsistencies  abound.  It  serves, 
however,  to  illustrate  the  great  need  for  some  new  con¬ 
vention  on  the  subject.  I  have  done  my  best  to  intro¬ 
duce  as  few  Arabic  words  as  possible  into  the  text,  and 
in  translating  have  tried  to  avoid  the  irritating  trick  of 
putting  the  Eastern  idiom  into  the  English  version  along 
with  the  sense. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  D.  G.  Hogarth’s  book,  “  The 
Penetration  of  Arabia,”  for  much  of  the  geographical 
information, .  and  to  Professor  D.  Margoliouth’s  “  Mo¬ 
hammed,”  Washington  Irving’s  “  Mahomet  and  His 
Successors,”  and  several  Arab  writers,  for  many  of  my 
historical  facts. 

A.  J.  B.  W. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction  . 

•  • 

•  • 

• 

PAGE 

1 

PART  I 

CHAPTER 

I 

London  to  Beyrout 

•  • 

• 

.  26 

CHAPTER 

II 

Damascus 

•  • 

•  • 

• 

.  39 

CHAPTER 

III 

The  Hedjaz  Railway 

•  • 

• 

64 

CHAPTER 

IY 

Medina  . 

•  • 

•  • 

• 

.  72 

CHAPTER 

V 

Medina  to  Yembu 

•  • 

•  • 

• 

.  100 

CHAPTER 

VI 

Jiddah 

•  • 

•  • 

• 

.  116 

CHAPTER 

VII 

Jiddah  to  Mecca 

•  • 

a  a 

Vll 

•  # 

• 

.  124 

CONTENTS 


vm 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Mecca 


The  Pilgrimage 


•  • 


CHAPTER  IX 


PART  II 
CHAPTER  X 

Young  Turkey  and  the  Yemen 


CHAPTER  XI 


Hodeidah 


•  • 


CHAPTER  XII 

Hodeidah  to  Sanaa. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Siege  of  Sanaa  . 


•  • 


CHAPTER  XIV 


The  Relief 


We  Escape 


•  • 


CHAPTER  XV 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Recapture  and  Return  . 


Finis 


•  • 


Appendix  , 


•  •* 


%  • 


PAGE 

.  134 

.  157 

.  180 

.  207 

.  228 

.  252 

.  269 

.  288 

.  305 

.  326 

.  332 


INDEX 


345 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Author,  Damascus,  1908 

• 

• 

Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Medina  .... 

• 

• 

74 

Mecca  .... 

• 

• 

.  128 

Mecca  :  The  Haram  . 

• 

• 

.  152 

Manzoni’s  Map  of  Sanaa 

• 

• 

.  242 

A  View  in  Sanaa 

• 

• 

.  .  .  260 

Ahmad  .... 

• 

• 

.  270 

Map  of  Arabia  . 

• 

• 

.  End  of  Volume 

6 


IX 


A  MODERN  PILGRIM 
IN  MECCA 


INTRODUCTION 

Some  apology  is  necessary  for  beginning  a  book  of  this 
description  with  a  dissertation  on  the  Geography  of  Arabia, 
and  the  tenets  of  one  of  the  most  widely-spread  religions 
of  the  world  ;  for  the  elements  of  both  might  well  be  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  common  knowledge.  It  is  my  experience, 
however,  that  this  is  not  always  the  case,  and  since  a 
general  comprehension  of  these  matters  is  essential  to 
any  interest  the  experiences  to  be  related  may  have,  I 
am  devoting  some  space  to  their  consideration  for  the 
benefit  of  such  of  my  readers  as  have  not  found  time  to 
study  Oriental  subjects. 

Our  ignorance  concerning  Arabia  may  be  attributed 
to  the  scarcity  of  literature  on  the  subject — more  especially 
of  English  literature.  Nor  is  this  scarcity  surprising, 
when  we  come  to  consider  the  character  of  the  country 
and  its  people.  Though  the  peninsula  has  an  area  of 
about  a  million  and  a  half  square  miles,  that  is  to  say, 
though  it  is  larger  than  India  south  of  the  fifteenth 
parallel,  it  contains  at  the  most  five  inland  cities  worthy 
of  the  name.  These  are,  in  order  of  importance,  Mecca, 
Medina,  Sanaa,  Hail  and  Riadh — the  claim  of  the  last 
two  to  the  title  resting  merely  on  the  fact  that  they  are 
the  capital  towns  of  settled  communities.  Yet  we  can 
without  difficulty  enumerate  the  European  visitors  to 
them  all.  It  is  moderately  certain,  in  the  first  place, 
that  no  professing  Christian  has  set  foot  in  either  Mecca 
or  Medina  since  the  time  of  the  Prophet.  The  Europeans 
who  are  known  to  have  been  to  Mecca  during  the  past 

1 


2 


INTRODUCTION 


hundred  years  number  rather  more  than  a  dozen,*  and  of 
these  four,  including  the  writer,  have  been  Englishmen. 
The  visitors  to  Medina  have  been  fewer  still.  Travellers 
to  these  places  have  invariably  made  the  journey  in  one 
of  two  ways  :  either  by  the  public  profession  of  Islam  or 
in  disguise.  As  regards  the  former,  several  Western 
converts  to  Islam  have  doubtless  made  the  pilgrimage, 
and  probably  many  of  the  European  officers  in  the 
Egyptian  service  who  had  forsworn  Christianity  found 
their  way  there  at  the  time  of  Mohammed  Ali’s  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  Hedjaz  ;  none  of  these,  however,  would  seem 
to  have  recorded  their  experiences. 

The  first  accurate  description  of  Mecca  in  a  European 
language  was  by  “  Ali  Bey,”  a  Spaniard,  in  1807.  The 
more  celebrated  Swiss  traveller  Burchardt,  who  by  long 
residence  in  the  East  had  come  to  be  considered  a  genuine 
Moslem,  went  there  in  1814  and  gave  us  a  full  and  scientific 
account  of  his  journey.  He  was  followed  in  1853  by  Sir 
Richard  Burton,  who  made  the  pilgrimage  disguised  as 
an  Indian  doctor,  and  by  Keane,  another  Englishman, 
in  1877.  In  1885  Dr.  Hugronge,  a  Dutchman,  spent 
several  months  in  Mecca,  outside  the  pilgrimage  season. 
His  book,  the  most  comprehensive  work  on  the  subject 
we  possess,  is  in  German,  and  has  not,  unfortunately, 
been  translated.  The  list  of  visitors  to  Sanaa  is  longer, 
but  they  do  not  probably  much  exceed  a  score  ;  while  not 
more  than  half-a-dozen  Europeans  have  seen  Hail  in 
modern  times,  and  only  two  have  reached  Riadh,  namely 
Palgrave  in  1863,  and  Colonel  Pelly  in  1864. 

It  will  thus  be  understood  why  these  places,  though 
they  have  been  described,  and  well  described,  by  Western 
travellers  of  several  nationalities,  remain  in  a  sense  un¬ 
known  to  the  world  at  large.  Arabia,  in  spite  of  its 
proximity  to  Europe,  is  still  in  great  measure  unexplored, 
even  in  a  geographical  sense  ;  and  very  little  news 
concerning  events  taking  place  there,  even  in  the  more 
civilized  parts,  finds  its  way  into  the  European  press. 

The  general  physical  character  of  the  peninsula  may 

*  This  is  exclusive  of  European  Moslems,  such  as  Albanians  and 
Russians,  and  also  of  converts — an  uncertain  quantity.  Nor  does  it 
include  those  that  have  gone  there  involuntarily  as  prisoners,  such  as 
the  Englishwoman  found  there  by  Keane,  nor  yet  some  who  are  be¬ 
lieved  to  have  perished  there. 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


be  well  appreciated  by  considering  it  as  an  oblong  plateau, 
tilted  up  at  its  south-west  corner.  Meteorological  con¬ 
ditions  have  favoured  the  disintegration  of  part  of  the 
elevated  corner  and  the  spreading  of  the  detritus  over  the 
rest  of  the  peninsula.  The  existence  of  this  high  ground 
likewise  causes  the  premature  precipitation  of  the  moisture 
brought  from  the  Indian  Ocean  by  the  south-west  monsoon, 
with  the  result  that  the  interior  is  nearly  rainless.  There 
is  only  one  true  mountain-range — so  far  as  we  know — 
the  Gebel  Akhdar  in  Oman.  The  mountainous  country 
in  the  south-west  is  merely  the  broken  edge  of  the  plateau. 
The  main  water-courses,  which  trend  as  a  rule  north-east 
to  the  Persian  Gulf,  are  merely  torrent  beds  containing 
no  perennial  water  above  ground  ;  though  in  many  of 
them  sufficient  water  can  be  obtained  by  sinking  wells 
to  maintain  a  more  or  less  settled  population  along  their 
course. 

As  might  be  expected,  given  such  conditions,  much  of 
the  country  is  desert.  There  are  in  fact  several  kinds  of 
desert  in  Arabia,  varying  in  degree  of  aridity.  The  plains 
of  the  Nafud,  for  instance,  through  absence  of  water 
support  no  settled  population,  but  are  yet  by  no  means 
sterile,  and  afford  grazing  for  flocks  and  herds  throughout 
part  of  the  year.  There  are  deserts  of  lava,  and  mountain¬ 
ous  deserts,  and  finally  the  “  empty  quarter,”  as  the  Arabs 
call  it,  which  occupies  the  whole  of  the  south  central 
region.  Concerning  this  last  we  know  little  or  nothing  ; 
it  is  quite  unexplored,  and  even  Arab  geographers  are 
silent  concerning  it.  On  these  grounds  it  is  assumed  to 
be  an  impenetrable  wilderness  of  sand  ;  but  mountains, 
lakes,  or  even  cities  may  exist  there  for  all  we  know  to 
the  contrary.  It  is  eight  hundred  miles  across,  so  such 
speculations  are  permissible,  even  while  admitting  their 
improbability. 

The  deserts  of  Arabia  are  interspersed  with  tracts  of 
country  where  more  favourable  conditions  prevail,  which 
are  capable  of  supporting  nomad,  and,  more  rarely, 
settled  communities.  The  elevated  south-west  corner 
is  well  watered  and  generally  fertile.  The  great  valley 
of  Hadramout,  which  proceeds  from  it  and  discharges 
into  the  Arabian  Sea,  is  in  its  upper  reaches  fairly  densely 
populated.  The  valleys  that  drain  towards  the  Gulf 


4 


INTRODUCTION 


are  inhabited  at  intervals.  Except  in  the  great  southern 
desert  oases  are  not  uncommon. 

The  western  borderlands  and  Oman  are  the  most 
favoured  parts  of  Arabia  in  the  all-important  matter  of 
rainfall.  The  former  in  the  south  obtain  all  they  require, 
but  farther  north,  as  the  altitude  diminishes,  the  country 
rapidly  becomes  sterile.  There  is  little  fertility  in  Hedjaz 
beyond  a  few  oases,  such  as  that  of  Taif,  and  Medina. 
Oman  owes  its  comparatively  abundant  water-supply  to 
a  lofty  mountain -range,  composed  of  intrusive  igneous 
rocks,  and  with  this  exception  the  south  and  east  coasts 
are  dry  and  barren. 

To  turn  from  the  physical  to  the  political  geography 
of  the  peninsula,  we  note  that  the  countries  adjoining 
the  coast  are  administered  or  “  protected  ”  by  European 
Powers,  and  that  the  central  communities  remain  inde¬ 
pendent.  The  whole  of  the  Red  Sea  coast,  together  with 
its  hinterland,  is  comprised  in  the  three  Ottoman  pro¬ 
vinces  of  Hedjaz,  Asir,  and  Yemen.  Great  Britain  holds 
the  Aden  peninsula,  and  protects  a  small  area  on  the 
mainland,  with  certain  other  towns  on  the  south  coast. 
Muscat  is  nominally  an  independent  Sultanate  where 
British  influence  predominates.  The  Gulf  coast  is  divided 
between  certain  so-called  “trucial  chiefs”  who  have  come 
to  some  arrangement  with  the  Government  of  India,  and 
others, farther  north,  who  acknowledge  Turkish  suzerainty. 

Hail  and  Riadh  are  the  capitals  of  the  two  independent 
Arab  states  which  divide  between  them  the  habitable 
parts  of  Central  Arabia,  known  as  Negd.  Both  are  prin¬ 
cipalities,  and  both  profess  allegiance  to  the  Wahabi 
doctrine,  which  will  be  explained  later.  They  are  con¬ 
stantly  at  war  with  each  other.  The  Ottoman  Govern¬ 
ment  bases  a  claim  to  protect  these  countries  on  the 
Sultan’s  pretensions  to  the  Caliphate.  The  idea,  however, 
that  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  being  “  Commander  of  the 
Faithful,”  can  thereby  claim  the  allegiance  of  all  true 
Moslems,  is  as  likely  to  find  acceptance  in  India  or  Persia 
as  in  any  part  of  Negd. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  peninsula  belong  to  a  Semitic 
race — that  is  to  say,  they  are  of  the  same  family  ethno- 
logically  as  the  Jews,  whom  in  many  respects  they  closely 
resemble. 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


An  Arab  author  writes  of  them,  44  Nothing  is  more 
obscure  than  the  early  history  of  this  race  ;  but  they  are 
classified  in  three  divisions  :  the  Baidah,  the  Ariba,  and 
the  Mustariba.  The  Baidah  (the  perished)  are  those  of 
extreme  antiquity,  concerning  whom  little  is  known  to 
us.  Such,  for  instance,  were  Aad,  Thamoud,  and  the  first 
Jurham.  As  for  the  Ariba,  or  true  Arabs,  they  are  the 
people  of  the  Yemen,  the  children  of  Kahtan  ;  while 
the  Mustariba,  or  Arabs  by  adoption,  are  the  sons  of 
Ishmael,  the  son  of  Abraham,  who,  as  it  is  said,  came  in 
contact  with  the  second  Jurham  of  the  race  of  Kahtan, 
and  married  into  that  tribe.  His  descendants  are  called 
Arabs  by  adoption,  because  Ishmael  was  a  Hebrew  by 
birth  and  in  language.  From  the  Ariba  and  Mustariba 
originated  the  Arab  tribes  as  known  at  the  present  day.” 

Kahtan  (or  Jocktan)  was  the  son  of  Abeis,  the  son  of 
Shalah,  the  son  of  Arfakhshad,  the  son  of  Shem,  the  son 
of  Noah.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  speak  the 
Arabic  language. 

Arabic  and  Hebrew  are  nearly  allied,  and  are  the  only 
living  representatives  of  the  linguistic  group  to  which 
Chaldaean,  Syriac,  and  many  other  dead  languages  be¬ 
long.  The  Arabs  are  distributed  in  tribes,  and  are  essen¬ 
tially  a  nomadic  people.  Physically,  they  are  a  handsome 
race,  small  and  slight  in  stature,  in  colour  light  brown 
to  white.  It  will  be  understood  that  we  are  speaking 
here  of  the  nomad  tribesmen  of  Negd  and  Hedjaz,  not 
of  the  settled  populations  found  in  the  south-west  and 
in  towns  ;  nor  yet  of  Egyptians,  Moors,  Syrians  or  others, 
sometimes  loosely  termed  Arabs.  The  true  Arab  has 
sharp  aquiline  features,  straight  black  hair  on  his  head, 
and  very  little  on  his  face.  He  is  generally  depicted  as 
a  tall,  imposing-looking  person,  of  dark  complexion,  with 
a  flowing  beard ;  but  this  is  wrong. 

These  two  races,  the  Arabs  and  the  Jews,  so  nearly 
alike  as  they  are  physically  and  intellectually,  yet  differ 
widely  in  certain  moral  qualities.  The  Arabs  in  the  past 
have  shown  great  capacity  not  only  for  waging  war 
on  a  large  scale  but  for  administering  and  civilizing 
the  countries  conquered.  They  made  for  themselves  an 
empire  larger  than  that  of  Rome,  if  somewhat  less  durable. 
They  have  imposed  their  language  and  religion  on  a  con- 


6 


INTRODUCTION 


siderable  portion  of  the  world’s  inhabitants.  Withal 
they  have  few  if  any  business  or  commercial  aptitudes, 
and  are  the  reverse  of  thrifty.  In  character  they  are 
brave,  cunning,  and  somewhat  cruel ;  honest  in  their 
own  way,  and  faithful  to  their  word  once  given.  They 
are  renowned  for  their  hospitality  and  chivalrous  pro¬ 
tection  of  strangers. 

Such,  then,  in  brief,  are  the  characteristics  of  the 
Bedou,  that  is  to  say,  the  true  Arabs  of  the  desert.  In 
the  settled  districts  of  the  peninsula,  and  among  urban 
populations,  these  attributes  have  become  much  modified 
by  contact  with  other  races.  The  institution  of  slavery, 
with  the  fact  that  the  offspring  of  unions  contracted  with 
slave  women  are  considered  as  legitimate,  is  largely  re¬ 
sponsible  for  this.  Nearly  all  the  Arabs  of  Muscat,  for 
example,  have  a  strain  of  African  blood,  and  it  is  not  un¬ 
common  to  find  individuals  claiming  descent  from  the 
Prophet  who  are  to  all  appearance  pure  negroes.  In 
Medina,  again,  constant  intermarriage  with  Turks,  Kurds, 
and  Persians  has  almost  obliterated  the  original  Semitic 
type,  so  that  the  inhabitants  are  Arabs  only  in  their 
language  and  customs.  In  the  Yemen  the  population 
has  always  been  settled  and  devoted  to  agriculture  in 
contradistinction  to  the  nomad  pastoralists  we  have 
been  discussing.  The  Persian  and  Abyssinian  invasions 
of  that  country  have  left  their  mark  so  far  that  the 
people  inhabiting  it  to-day  are  really  Arabs  in  name  only, 
and  have  little  in  common  with  the  Bedou.  Their  lan¬ 
guage  contains  so  many  foreign  words  that,  apart  from 
its  structure,  it  might  sometimes  be  difficult  to  recognize 
its  origin. 

The  history  of  Arabia  prior  to  the  advent  of  Islam 
will  be  alluded  to  later.  Headers  will  recall  that  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  (Saba)  came  from  there.  The  capital 
of  the  Sabsean  kingdom,  called  Marib,  was  situated  not 
far  from  the  present-day  city  of  Sanaa.  The  Arabs  are 
accustomed  to  boast  that  their  country  has  never  sub¬ 
mitted  to  foreign  rule.  This  is  in  the  main  true,  for  though 
it  has  been  frequently  invaded,  no  foreign  occupation  of 
any  part  of  the  interior  has  hitherto  been  more  than 
temporary.  The  Roman  Emperor  Augustus,  under  the 
mistaken  impression  that  Arabia  was  a  rich  country  which 


INTRODUCTION 


7 


it  would  be  worth  while  to  annex,  sent  an  expedition  there 
under  a  certain  iElius  Gallius  which  merely  succeeded  in 
demonstrating  the  contrary.  This  delusion  was  probably 
due  to  the  riches  which  arrived  at  Arabian  ports  from  the 
Far  East  being  considered  as  having  come  from  Arabia 
itself.  The  general’s  description  of  the  country  and  its 
people  on  his  return  was  not  of  a  nature  to  encourage 
further .  enterprises  of  the  sort. 

We  may  conclude  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century  Arabia  was  regarded  in  official  circles  at  By¬ 
zantium  in  very  much  the  same  light  as  Somaliland  is 
to-day  at  Whitehall.  A  nasty,  unhealthy  country,  chiefly 
remarkable  for  its  extreme  sterility,  peopled  by  wandering 
tribes  of  equally  unpleasant  barbarians — it  was  very  much 
better  left  alone.  None  could  have  guessed  what  was 
maturing,  or  have  foreseen  that  events  then  taking  place 
in  an  obscure  town  there,  were  destined  to  culminate  in 
the  explosion  which  overthrew  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
imposed  an  alien  religion  and  civilization  on  the  greater 
part  of  the  inhabited  world  as  it  was  known  in  those  days. 

The  prophet  Mohammed  was  born  in  Mecca  in  the  year 
a.d.  569.  The  tribe  of  Koreish,  to  which  his  family  be¬ 
longed,  was  predominant  among  the  clans  of  that  town 
and  considered  second  to  none  in  Arabia  in  point  of 
lineage  and  honourable  traditions.  His  father  and 
mother,  however,  were  people  of  small  means  and  no_ 
particular  consequence.  Left  an  orphan  at  an  early 
age,  he  was  brought  up  by  his  uncle,  Abu  Talib,  the 
keeper  of  the  Meccan  shrine,  a  rich  and  powerful  man 
of  generous  disposition.  His  education,  however,  was 
neglected,  and  unlike  his  cousin  Ali,  the  son  of  Abu 
Talib,  he  was  not  taught  to  read  and  write.  On  growing 
up  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Khadijah,  a  rich  widow 
considerably  cider  than  himself,  who  entrusted  him  with 
the  conduct  of  a  caravan  conveying  merchandise  to  Syria, 
and  on  his  return  married  him.  There  is  nothing  in 
his  history  very  remarkable  so  far. 

Finding  himself  thus,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  re¬ 
lieved  from  all  necessity  of  working  for  his  living,  Mo¬ 
hammed  had  leisure  to  devote  himself  to  politics  and 
subjects  of  abstract  interest.  His  wife  was  devoted  to 
him,  and  for  some  years  he  lived  with  her  as  happily  and 


8 


INTRODUCTION 


contentedly  as  other  men  of  easy-going  temperament  and 
no  particular  ambitions,  similarly  situated,  did  then  and 
do  now.  They  had  one  son,  Kasim,  who  died  in  infancy, 
^and  four  daughters,  of  whom  Fatima  is  the  most  famous. 

Mecca  was  at  that  time  not  merely  a  commercial  town 
of  some  importance,  but  the  centre  of  an  idolatrous  cult 
widespread  throughout  Arabia.  Pilgrims  flocked  to  the 
city  to  visit  the  celebrated  temple  known  as  the  Kaaba, 
which  was  surrounded  by  three  hundred  and  sixty  idols — 
one  for  each  day  of  their  year.  At  a  certain  time  every 
year  there  was  a  sort  of  fair  there,  to  which  many  foreign 
merchants  brought  their  wares.  Among  them  came 
frequently  Jews  and  Christians,  who  seem  to  have  been 
fond  of  discussing  their  rival  creeds  after  business  hours 
with  any  one  who  cared  to  argue  with  them.  Moham¬ 
med,  having  plenty  of  spare  time,  was  fond  of  these  dis¬ 
putations,  and  no  doubt  acquired  therefrom  much  of  the 
philosophy  and  knowledge  of  the  outside  world  that  he 
afterwards  displayed.  He  also  began  to  give  evidence  of 
an  emotional  temperament  and  a  tendency  to  asceticism. 
He  would  withdraw  himself  from  human  society  for  days 
at  a  time  in  order  to  meditate  apart  on  some  point  that 
had  aroused  his  interest. 

At  the  age  of  about  forty  he  began  to  see  visions.  He 
may  or  may  not  have  been  subject  previously  to  epileptic 
seizures.  The  evidence  therefor  is  not  conclusive,  and 
the  point  is  in  any  case  unimportant.  These  revelations, 
or  hallucinations,  as  most  of  my  readers  will  prefer  to 
call  them,  nearly  always  took  the  same  form.  An  angel 
stood  before  him  and  communicated  to  him  passages 
from  a  book  which  he  commanded  him  to  proclaim  to  the 
whole  world.  The  earlier  revelations  were  in  a  sort  of 
rhymed  prose  peculiar  to  the  Arabic  language  ;  their 
force  and  beauty  have  seldom  been  disputed  by  the  most 
relentless  enemies  of  the  religion  he  formulated. 

Mohammed  confided  these  experiences  to  his  wife  and 
sought  her  advice.  She  had  been,  naturally  enough, 
more  concerned  than  impressed  by  his  previous  eccen¬ 
tricities. 

The  visions  continued  and  became  ever  more  insistent. 
Mohammed  allowed  himself  to  be  convinced,  and  enun¬ 
ciated  in  public  the  following  extraordinary  doctrine  : 


INTRODUCTION  9 

that  there  was  only  one  God,  and  that  he,  Mohammed, 
was  His  prophet. 

Khadijah,  needless  to  say,  was  his  first  convert,  and 
others  soon  followed,  Ali  among  the  earliest.  Abu  Talib 
made  no  objection,  and  seems  for  long  to  have  regarded 
his  nephew’s  latest  aberration  with  tolerant  amusement, 
as  likewise  did  most  of  the  townspeople,  with  whom 
Mohammed  was  rather  popular  than  otherwise. 

The  new  religion,  however,  began  to  gain  converts  in 
numbers  which  menaced  certain  vested  interests.  Mecca 
depended  for  its  prosperity  on  the  pilgrims  to  the  shrine, 
and,  obviously,  if  one  of  the  principal  citizens  were  to 
be  allowed,  not  only  to  condemn  and  ridicule  the  existing 
religious  system,  but  to  convert  others  to  his  views,  that 
prosperity  was  likely  to  suffer.  Though  they  were  by  no 
means  fanatical,  it  yet  certainly  behoved  the  Meccans 
to  keep  an  eye  on  their  material  interests.  Such  at  any 
rate  was  the  opinion  at  the  time. 

In  Arabia,  when  the  continued  existence  of  an  indivi¬ 
dual  seems  to  the  public  to  be  undesirable,  he  is  generally 
assassinated.  The  Meccans,  however,  were  very  reluctant 
to  adopt  this  simple  method  of  dealing  with  the  situation, 
because  it  would  have  involved  a  blood  feud  between 
Mohammed’s  family,  the  Benee  Hashim,  and  that  to 
which  the  assassin  happened  to  belong.  The  Benee 
Hashim  wTere  a  very  powerful  force  at  the  time,  and  Abu 
Talib,  who  was  fond  of  his  nephew,  was  not  a  man  to  fall 
foul  of  lightly.  Mohammed  therefore  was  allowed  to  con¬ 
tinue  his  preaching  for  several  years  almost  unmolested, 
and  it  was  only  when  the  defection  of  some  of  their  prin¬ 
cipal  citizens  awoke  the  Meccans  to  the  gravity  of  the 
danger,  that  strong  measures  were  ultimately  adopted. 

In  order  to  minimize  the  risk  of  civil  war,  it  was  arranged 
that  a  representative  of  every  family  in  Mecca,  except 
the  Benee  Hashim,  should  take  part  in  the  murder. 

Mohammed,  however,  got  wind  of  the  plot  and  fled  to 
Medina,  where  he  was  followed  in  course  of  time  by  ^ 
most  of  his  disciples.  The  people  of  this  town,  which 
lies  about  three  hundred  miles  north  of  Mecca  on  the 
road  between  that  place  and  Syria,  had  shown  themselves 
particularly  well  disposed  to  receive  his  teaching.  The 
circumstances  of  his  escape  were  sensational ;  and  it  owed 


10 


INTRODUCTION 


its  success  largely  to  the  brave  action  of  Ali,  then  a  youth 
of  about  nineteen  years  of  age,  who  awaited  the  assassins 
in  the  Prophet’s  place.  The  miraculous  incident  of  the 
spider  which  built  its  web,  and  the  pigeon  its  nest,  in  the 
mouth  of  the  cave  in  which  Mohammed  and  his  companion, 
Abu  Bakar,  were  hiding,  thus  deceiving  their  pursuers, 
took  place  on  this  occasion.  The  year  of  Mohammed’s 
flight  to  Medina,  known  as  the  Hegrah,  is  the  starting- 
point  of  the  Moslem  reckoning  of  dates.  It  corresponds 
to  the  year  a.d.  622. 

At  Medina  Mohammed  found  himself  a  poverty-stricken 
exile,  and  suffered  great  hardship  for  a  time.  He  and  his 
companions  were  often  short  of  food.  He  continued  none 
the  less  to  make  converts  in  ever-increasing  numbers,  and 
daily  gained  in  influence.  A  quarrel  between  him  and 
the  Jews  led  to  the  expulsion  of  the  latter.  The  Meccans 
viewed  the  growing  power  ol  the  new  sect  with  great 
concern,  owing  to  the  geographical  position  of  Medina, 
lying  as  it  did  on  their  main  line  of  communication  with 
Syria.  War  soon  broke  out,  and  the  first  battle  was 
fought  at  Badr  in  the  year  a.h.  2  (a.d.  624).  In  this  the 
Moslems  were  victorious,  but  they  were  defeated  the 
following  year  at  Uhud,  close  to  Medina,  when  nothing 
but  the  bad  generalship  of  the  Meccan  commander  saved 
them  from  total  destruction.  Mohammed,  on  the  other 
hand,  displayed  remarkable  military  talent  in  rapidly 
reorganizing  his  dispirited  followers  and  taking  the  field 
again  the  following  day.  The  Meccans  neglected  to  pursue 
their  advantage,  and  retired.  Mohammed’s  activity  and 
prestige  remaining  undiminished  by  this  reverse,  they 
returned  the  following  year  in  greater  force.  The  Pro¬ 
phet,  however,  had  constructed  a  formidable  earthwork 
round  the  town,  known  as  the  “  Khandak,”  and  cele¬ 
brated  in  Moslem  history,  behind  which  he  retired,  and 
the  Meccans,  after  besieging  the  place  for  some  time, 
were  forced  to  withdraw.  The  only  fighting  that  took 
place  was  in  a  series  of  single  combats  between  various 
champions  from  the  opposing  armies,  in  which  Ali  specially 
distinguished  himself. 

A  truce  was  now  concluded,  one  of  the  conditions  being 
that  Mohammed  should  be  allowed  to  make  the  Mecca 
pilgrimage,  which  he  did  in  company  with  many  of  his 


INTRODUCTION 


11 


disciples.  This  truce  was  soon  afterwards  broken,  or 
alleged  to  have  been  broken,  by  the  Meccans.  The 
Prophet,  whose  power  had  been  fast  growing  latterly, 
thereupon  assembled  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men  and 
marched  rapidly  on  Mecca,  which  surrendered  without  a 
battle.  The  idols  were  destroyed,  and  the  Kaaba  again 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  one  true  God. 

Several  other  campaigns  were  fought,  in  some  of  which 
the  Prophet  himself  led  the  Moslem  army  against  recal¬ 
citrant  tribes.  He  sent  messages  to  foreign  rulers  de¬ 
manding  their  submission.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  eleven 
years  after  his  flight  from  Mecca,  most  of  the  Arabians 
had  acknowledged  his  prophetic  mission.  He  married 
in  all  eleven  wives,*  the  most  celebrated  of  whom,  after 
Khadijah,  who  died  before  the  Hegrah,  is  Aesha,  the 
daughter  of  Abu  Bakar.  Beside  Kasim,  he  had  one  other 
son,  Ibrahim,  who  also  died  in  early  childhood.  His 
daughter  Fatima,  shortly  after  their  arrival  in  Medina, 
had  been  married  to  Ali,  and  had  borne  him  two  sons, 
Hassan  and  Hussein,  of  tragic  destiny.  The  Prophet  died 
and  was  buried  at  Medina  at  the  age  of  sixty-three. 
Fatima  was  the  only  one  of  his  children  to  survive  him. 

Mohammed  in  the  prime  of  life  was  a  man  of  medium 
stature,  rather  thick  set.  He  had  black  hair  and  beard, 
a  pleasant  expression,  and  remarkably  bright  eyes.  His 
complexion  was  fair. 

This  is  no  place  to  discuss  the  validity  of  his  claims  to 
Divine  inspiration  ;  but  one  thing  is  as  certain  as  anything 
can  be  that  is  not  actually  demonstrable,  and  that  is 
that  he  believed  in  them  himself.  Regarded  from  an 
ordinary  standpoint,  he  was  a  man  of  sound  common- 
sense,  personal  bravery,  and  gentle  disposition.  His  life 
was  consistent  with  the  ethical  code  he  preached.  He 
had  great  breadth  of  mind  and  a  sense  of  humour  capable 
of  appreciating  a  joke  against  himself,  as  the  following 
anecdote  concerning  him  will  show.  In  the  early  days 
of  his  sojourn  in  Medina,  the  Prophet  and  his  followers 
were  often  hungry.  He  would  never  accept  any  luxuries 
for  himself  in  which  the  latter  could  not  share.  One 

*  Authorities  differ  as  to  the  exact  number.  Mohammed  claimed 
for  himself  a  special  indulgence  in  this  matter.  Four  is  the  greatest 
number  permitted  by  the  Koran. 


12 


INTRODUCTION 


day  he  and  Ali  were  eating  dates  and  depositing  the  stones 
in  front  of  them.  Mohammed  put  his  stones  with  those 
of  Ali,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  meal  there  was  a  large 
heap  in  front  of  Ali,  and  none  in  front  of  the  Prophet. 
“  Surely,”  said  he,  in  calling  Ali’s  attention  to  this,  “  it 
is  greedy  to  eat  so  many  dates  at  one  sitting.”  “  Surely, 
O  Apostle  of  God,”  responded  Ali,  “it  is  still  more 
greedy  to  eat  the  stones  as  well  as  the  dates.”  At  which, 
we  are  told,  the  Prophet  laughed  heartily. 

He  detested  hypocrisy  in  any  form,  and  had  no  liking 
for  pomp  and  ceremony.  At  the  height  of  his  power  he 
lived  the  life  of  an  ordinary  citizen  of  Medina.  He  was 
always  accessible  and  willing  to  discuss  matters  with,  and 
explain  things  to,  any  one  who  cared  to  come  to  him.  He 
was  good  to  the  poor  and  very  fond  of  children.  He  con¬ 
stantly  enjoined  on  his  followers  kindness  to  animals. 

Mohammed  did  not  claim  the  power  of  working  miracles. 
The  Koran  itself,  he  said,  was  a  miracle  sufficient  to  con¬ 
vince  the  most  stubborn.  The  marvellous  stories  related 
concerning  him,  how  he  made  water  gush  from  dry  rocks, 
and  put  the  moon  up  his  sleeve,  are  mere  fables  ;  and 
find  no  place  in  the  works  of  serious  Moslem  historians. 
He  did  claim,  however,  to  have  received  miraculous  help 
on  several  occasions— in  the  cave,  for  instance,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Badr. 

The  death  of  Mohammed  was  followed  by  the  defection 
of  many  of  the  tribes  which  had  accepted  his  religion  in 
his  lifetime,  and  by  a  violent  quarrel  among  his  late 
lieutenants  as  to  who  should  succeed  him  in  the  supreme 
temporal  power.  Ali,  his  cousin  and  son-in-law,  who 
had  followed  his  fortunes  from  the  very  first,  and  more¬ 
over  distinguished  himself  both  in  the  field  and  in  council, 
had  seemingly  the  best  claim.  There  were,  however, 
certain  objections  to  his  candidature  ;  and  the  choice  fell 
eventually  on  Abu  Bakar,  the  Prophet’s  companion  in 
the  adventure  of  “  The  Cave.” 

No  wiser  selection  probably  could  have  been  made. 
The  situation  was  critical,  and  both  tact  and  firmness  were 
required  to  deal  with  it,  which  Abu  Bakar  possessed  in 
far  higher  degree  than  Ali,  who  was  more  at  home  in  a 
hand-to-hand  fight,  where  valour  rather  than  diplomacy 
was  required. 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


Abu  Bakar,  then,  assumed  command,  taking  the  title 
of  “  Kahleefa-t-urrasool,”  which  is  shortened  and  cor¬ 
rupted  into  66  Caliph  ”  in  this  language,  and  means  “  Suc¬ 
cessor  of  the  Apostle.”  He  was  equally  successful  in 
settling  domestic  differences  and  in  suppressing  revolts 
among  the  Arab  tribes.  Several  false  prophets  who  had 
appeared  in  imitation  of  Mohammed  had  to  be  crushed. 

These  things  accomplished,  the  Caliph  turned  his  at¬ 
tention  to  foreign  conquest.  He  sent  an  expedition  to 
Syria,  at  that  time  a  Byzantine  province,  which  inflicted 
defeat  after  defeat  on  the  Christian  armies.  Damascus, 
and  soon  afterwards  Jerusalem,  fell  to  the  Moslem  arms. 
Another  Arab  army  advanced  into  Mesopotamia  and  com¬ 
pletely  routed  the  Persians  in  a  series  of  pitched  battles. 

Abu  Bakar  died  shortly  after  the  capture  of  Damascus, 
bequeathing  his  powers  to  Omar,  likewise  one  of  the 
Prophet’s  oldest  and  most  valued  friends.  This  choice, 
at  the  time,  met  with  fairly  general  acceptance.  In 
assuming  office,  Omar  pointed  out  that  to  be  accurate 
he  should  be  called  the  successor  of  the  successor  of  the 
Apostle,  and  as  this  would  go  on  indefinitely,  he  suggested 
an  alternative  title.  “  You  are  the  faithful,”  said  he, 
“  and  I  am  your  prince  ;  call  me  therefore  Ameer-ul- 
mumineen  (=  Prince  or  Commander  of  the  Faithful,  the 
title  claimed  to-day  by  the  Sultans  of  Turkey). 

Omar  continued  the  aggressive  foreign  policy  initiated 
by  Abu  Bakar.  Byzantium  had  not  recovered  from  the 
astonishment  and  dismay  occasioned  by  the  loss  of  the 
Syrian  province,  when  the  Moslem  general,  Amru-bn- 
il-Aas,  at  the  head  of  a  few  thousand  warriors,  followed 
by  a  motley  rabble  of  women,  children,  and  slaves,  ap¬ 
peared  in  Egypt.  This  audacious  incursion  was  viewed 
at  first  with  amusement,  which  soon  changed  to  conster¬ 
nation  when  in  every  engagement  that  took  place  the 
disciplined  Roman  legionaries  broke  and  fled  before  the 
furious  onslaught  of  the  Arab  swordsmen.  Aided  by 
the  treachery  of  the  Copts,  who  sided  with  the  invaders 
against  the  Romans,  Amru  rapidly  subdued  all  Egypt. 
Alexandria  finally  surrendered  to  him  in  a.h.  19  (a.d.  640). 
By  order  of  Omar  himself,  so  it  is  said,  the  famous  library 
there  was  destroyed  by  the  Arabs. 

Space  will  not  allow  of  our  tracing  further  the  history 


14 


INTRODUCTION 


of  the  Moslem  conquests.  Fifty  years  after  the  Pro¬ 
phet’s  flight  to  Medina,  Islam  was  supreme  in  Spain, 
North  Africa,  Asia  Minor,  Arabia,  Mesopotamia,  and 
Persia,  and  was  still  spreading.  As  was  to  be  expected, 
the  empire  founded  in  this  way  and  built  up  so  rapidly 
did  not  long  hold  together.  The  Benee  Omayah  in 
Spain,  the  Moguls  in  India,  and  others  founded  separate 
Moslem  states,  denying  allegiance  to  the  Caliphate  of 
Bagdad.  None  the  less  it  is  probable  that  Haroun-er- 
Raschid  and  his  successors  wielded  more  absolute  power 
over  a  greater  number  of  human  beings  than  any  rulers 
before  or  since  their  time.  Gibbon,  in  the  “  Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,”  points  out  how  nearly  France 
came  to  sharing  the  fate  of  Spain.  The  issue  hung  on  a 
single  battle,*  in  which  the  Moslems  were  worsted.  Had 
the  result  been  otherwise,  the  Conqueror  would  probably 
have  been  an  Arab  and  England  to-day  a  Moslem  instead 
of  a  Christian  country. 

The  Arabian  empires  fell  in  time,  but  the  propagation 
of  Islam  was  carried  on  by  the  Turks  with  almost  equal 
energy,  and  in  the  seventeenth  century  once  more  it  seemed 
likely  to  subjugate  Christianity  in  the  West  as  it  had 
done  in  the  East.  The  fear  of  this  happening  dominated 
European  policy  for  centuries,  and  has  not  yet  entirely 
disappeared. 

The  courts  of  the  Moslem  emperors  were  centres  of  light 
and  learning  in  the  dark  ages.  Science  and  art  prospered 
under  their  rule,  as  many  splendid  monuments  testify. 
The  frugal  simplicity  of  life  inculcated  by  the  Prophet, 
and  practised  by  the  first  Caliphs,  gave  place  with  their 
successors  to  an  unexampled  extravagance. 

It  remains,  before  taking  leave  of  the  subject,  to  de¬ 
scribe  briefly  the  events  in  Arabia  that  followed  on  the 
death  of  Othman,  the  third  Caliph,  who  was  assassinated 
in  a.h.  35. 

Ali,  by  this  time  an  old  man,  took  his  place,  but  his 
right  to  do  so  was  challenged  by  Mouawiyah,  who  accused 
him,  quite  falsely  in  all  probability,  of  being  concerned 
in  the  murder  of  Othman.  Civil  war  broke  out,  and  the 
empire  was  divided  till  the  murder  of  Ali  at  Kerbela  in 
a.h.  40  left  his  rival  in  possession  of  the  field. 

*  Poitiers,  a.d.  732. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

Hassan,  Ali’s  son,  who  succeeded  him,  abdicated  in 
favour  of  Mouawiyah,  who  was  the  first  to  establish  an 
hereditary  dynasty  in  Islam. 

His  descendants,  known  as  the  Benee  Omayah,  reigned 
in  the  East  till  they  were  overthrown  by  the  Benee 
Abbas,  descended  from  the  uncle  of  Mohammed,  in 
a.h.  132. 

The  Benee  Omayah,  however,  continued  to  rule  in 
Andalusia  till  the  Arab  was  replaced  by  the  Moorish 
Empire  three  centuries  later. 

Mouawiyah  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Yazeed,  who  is 
accused  of  having  instigated  the  murders  of  Hassan  and 
Hussein,  the  grandsons  of  the  Prophet.  The  former  was 
poisoned,  and  the  latter  slain  in  battle,  together  with  most 
of  his  family,  near  Cufa  in  Mesopotamia.  Their  deaths 
may  be  considered  as  marking  the  end  of  the  first  great 
epoch  in  the  history  of  Islam  :  the  period  in  which  the 
rulers  and  generals  were  men  who  had  known  Mohammed 
personally,  and  had  shared  the  privations  and  struggles 
of  the  early  part  of  his  prophetic  career. 

What  marvellous  changes  they  had  witnessed  with 
their  own  eyes  may  be  realized  when  we  recall  that  at 
the  battle  of  Badr,  one  of  the  most  decisive  in  the  world’s 
history,  the  Moslem  host  numbered  but  three  hundred 
and  fourteen  warriors.  About  forty  years  later  Ali  and 
Mouawiyah,  in  skirmishing  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
preliminary  to  a  serious  engagement,  lost  between  them 
seventy  thousand  men. 

The  most  surprising  transformations  conceived  by  the 
author  of  the  “  Arabian  Nights  ”  do  not  surpass  in  wonder 
what  these  men  actually  experienced.  The  handful  of 
camel  herdsmen  and  petty  traders  who  in  their  youth 
took  part  in  the  faction  fighting  round  Mecca  and  Medina, 
found  themselves  in  their  middle  age  commanding  armies 
or  governing  vast  provinces.  Mouawiyah,  who,  at  the 
time  of  Mohammed’s  death,  was  old  enough  to  appreciate 
him,  came  to  rule,  ere  his  own  decease,  over  an  empire 
greater  than  that  of  Borne,  and  to  dispose  of  riches  almost 
beyond  computation. 

We  may  now  turn  from  the  history  to  the  tenets  of 
Mohammed’s  religion,  and  endeavour  to  understand 
wherein  lay  the  force  that  produced  these  astonishing 


16 


INTRODUCTION 


results.  The  revelations,  to  which  allusion  has  already 
been  made,  continued  at  irregular  intervals  throughout 
the  Prophet’s  life.  They  were  communicated  by  him  to 
his  companions,  who  either  wrote  them  down  or  learnt 
them  by  heart.  They  varied  much  in  character.  Some 
took  the  form  of  allegorical  rhapsodies,  some  were  straight¬ 
forward  admonitions.  Others,  again,  were  concerned  with 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  daily  life,  having  regard  especially 
to  the  conditions  then  obtaining.  History,  politics,  and 
philosophy  were  dealt  with.  A  complete  civil  and 
criminal  code  has  been  deduced  from  them. 

At  the  time  of  Mohammed’s  death  no  attempt  had 
been  made  to  put  them  together  in  the  form  of  a  book. 
It  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  him  that  this  should 
be  done  if  they  were  to  be  preserved.  Abu  Bakar, 
however,  observing  how  rapidly  the  generation  which 
had  known  the  Prophet  was  passing  away,  perceived  the 
danger,  and  appointed  a  sort  of  “  Royal  Commission  ” 
to  collect  and  collate  them.  The  result  of  their  labours, 
which  were  not  completed  till  the  reign  of  Othman,  is 
the  Koran.  Though  it  is  rank  heresy  to  doubt  the  authen¬ 
ticity  of  any  part  of  the  work,  one  may  be  forgiven  for 
assuming  that  much  was  lost  and  much  more  has  been 
inaccurately  rendered.  No  attempt  was  made  to  arrange 
the  chapters  in  chronological  order  or  with  regard  to  their 
subject-matter. 

The  Koran  teaches  that  there  is  one  God  only,  eternal, 
infinite,  and  incomprehensible,  and  that  he  was  the  God 
of  Adam,  Moses,  Christ,  and  the  other  prophets  of  old. 
He  has  revealed  his  will  several  times  previously,  in  the 
form  of  books,  the  most  important  among  them  being 
the  Taurat  and  the  Ingeel,  i.e.  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  Gospel.  The  current  versions  of  these  having  howT- 
ever  become  corrupted,  the  Koran  is  revealed  to  Moham¬ 
med  to  supersede  them.* 

*  The  Arabic  word  for  “  a  God  ”  is  Ilahun — in  the  nominative 
singular.  With  the  definite  article,  this  becomes  by  elision  Allahu, 
and  means  the  God,  i.e.  the  one  true  God.  So  the  creed  “  La  Ilaha 
illa’llaha  ”  means  “  There  is  no  God  but  the  God.”  The  curious  idea 
that  “  Alla  ”  is  a  deity  peculiar  to  the  Moslems  must  have  arisen  from 
ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  word,  which  is  used  by  Arabic-speaking 
Christians  as  well  as  Moslems. 

The  word  “  Koran  ”  simply  means  “  reading.”  Mosque  is  derived 
from  “  Masgid,”  and  means  literally  “  a  place  of  bowing.” 


INTRODUCTION 


17 


The  main  dogmas  on  which  the  religions  derived  from 
these  books  are  based  remain  unaltered.  The  theorems  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  day  of  judgment,  heaven 
and  hell,  Satan  the  enemy  of  mankind,  angels,  devils, 
etc.,  as  previously  enunciated,  are  confirmed  in  general 
principles  by  the  Koran.  The  moral  code  set  forth  is 
that  of  the  ten  commandments,  and  exhortations  to 
humility,  chastity,  temperance,  and  charity  occur  con¬ 
stantly.  Many  Biblical  stories  tending  to  illustrate  these 
virtues  are  repeated. 

A  great  part  of  the  book,  however,  is  devoted  to  in¬ 
sisting  on  the  absolute  unity  of  the  Godhead.  God,  we 
are  told,  will  forgive  every  sin  except  that  of  associating 
Him  with  something  else.  The  112th  chapter,  which  is 
considered  equal  in  value  to  a  third  of  the  whole  book, 
runs  as  follows  : 

“  Say  He  is  one  God,  the  eternal  God  :  He  begetteth 
not,  neither  was  He  begat :  neither  is  there  any  like  unto 
Him.” 

In  fact,  quite  a  third  of  the  Koran  is  actually  devoted 
to  saying  the  same  thing  in  other  words. 

This  brings  us  to  the  thorny  subject  of  the  relations 
between  Islam  and  Christianity  in  matters  of  dogma. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  Mohammed  himself  fully  expected 
to  “  rope  in  ” — if  one  may  use  such  an  expression — both 
Jews  and  Christians,  and  was  bitterly  disappointed  at 
his  failure  to  do  so.  The  Koran  contains  frequent  re¬ 
ferences  to  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary,  who  is  called  the  Messiah 
and  the  “  pure  in  heart  ”  ;  the  doctrine  of  the  virgin  birth 
receives  confirmation.  The  Jews  are  reproached  for  their 
refusal  to  accept  Christ’s  teaching  ;  the  Christians  for  their 
perversion  of  it.  The  doctrine  that  Christ  was  the  Son 
of  God  is  characterized  as  a  fearful  blasphemy. 

It  is  evident  that  the  two  religions  come  near  to  standing 
on  common  ground.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
doctrine  thus  denounced  was  interpreted  at  the  time  in 
the  most  literal  sense  possible.  So  it  would  appear  to 
be  to-day  by  the  official  Churches  of  Christendom,  but  it 
is  probable  that  this  view  would  not  be  so  tenaciously 
held  but  for  the  formidable  opposition  to  it  offered  by 
the  Koran.  With  the  exception  of  the  Prophet  himself, 
thinkers  on  both  sides  have  been  much  more  concerned 


2 


18 


INTRODUCTION 


to  discover  fresh  differences  than  grounds  for  accord. 
Throughout  the  Koran  Jews  and  Christians  are  referred 
to  as  “  people  of  the  book,”  and  treated  on  a  different 
footing  from  ordinary  unbelievers  and  idolaters.  The 
words  of  the  Koran  on  the  subject  of  the  crucifixion  are 
obscure.  “  They  did  not  kill  him,  neither  did  they  crucify 
him,  but  something  like  unto  him  .  .  .  and  God  took 
him  to  Himself.” 

Justification  by  faith  is  another  very  contentious 
point.  Going  farther,  apparently,  than  what  had  preceded 
it,  the  Koran  promises  eventual  salvation  to  all  believers 
in  the  cardinal  doctrine,  whatever  they  may  do  in  this 
life — a  postulate  to  which  the  existence  of  purgatory  is 
evidently  a  necessary  consequence. 

The  tenet  of  predestination  enunciated  in  the  Koran 
has  been  vehemently  assailed,  and  Moslems  themselves 
are  not  agreed  about  it.  It  seems,  however,  merely  a 
corollary  to  the  proposition  of  an  all-powerful  and  all¬ 
knowing  deity. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  orthodox  Islam  accepts  as 
dogmas  certain  beliefs  which  are  held  by  the  Churches 
of  Christendom  to  be  irreconcilable  one  with  another. 
The  doctrine  that  the  eventual  fate  of  the  soul  is  fore¬ 
ordained  is  of  course  the  essence  of  Calvinism.  Moslem 
ideas  concerning  the  Caliphate  correspond  nearly  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  views  on  apostolic  succession.  Yet  the 
supremacy  of  the  Scripture  is  insisted  on  as  in  the  Church 
of  England.  The  Caliph,  though  he  is  supposed  to  enjoy 
to  some  extent  Divine  guidance,  is  held  incompetent  to 
decide  whether  or  not  a  proposed  action  is  in  keeping  with 
the  law,  and  must  submit  to  the  judgment  of  those  versed 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  sacred  books.  In  modem 
Turkey  this  right  of  veto  is  exercised  by  the  Sheikh  of 
Islam,  who  answers  questions  put  to  him  as  to  the  legality 
of  a  proceeding  by  what  is  called  a  fatwa.  Thus  “Is  it 
lawful  to  depose  a  Caliph  who  misgoverns  ?  ”  Fatwa : 
“  The  sacred  law  says,  Yes.” 

Concerning  that  part  of  the  Koran  which  deals  with 
practical  legislation,  we  need  only  remark  that  the  civil 
laws  still  work  fairly  well,  and  that  the  criminal  code  is 
much  too  draconian  for  modern  use. 

The  positive  duties  of  a  believer  are  four,  namely  prayer, 


INTRODUCTION 


19 


alms,  fasting,  and  pilgrimage  for  such  as  can  afford  it. 
To  these  we  shall  refer  again  later.  The  most  distinctive 
negative  precepts  of  the  Koran  are  its  prohibition  of 
certain  kinds  of  food,  pork  among  them,  usury,  gaming, 
and  wine.  It  is  not,  however,  universally  admitted  that 
the  use  of  the  last  in  moderation  is  altogether  forbidden. 
In  any  case,  this  law  is  very  badly  kept. 

Beside  the  Koran,  and  next  to  it  in  importance  in 
Moslem  eyes,  are  the  six  books  of  the  “  Sunna  ”  or  “  Aha- 
deeth.”  These  are  the  traditions  concerning  the  Prophet. 
Though  belief  in  them  is  not  an  article  of  faith,  they  are 
none  the  less  accepted  unreservedly  by  most  orthodox 
Moslems,  and  to  them  may  be  traced  many  of  the  super¬ 
stitious  fancies  which  now  disfigure  the  primitive  sim¬ 
plicity  of  the  Islamic  creed.  They  are  very  numerous — 
the  writer  has  before  him  a  book  containing  ten  thousand 
of  Mohammed’s  alleged  sayings,  of  which  probably  less 
than  one  per  cent,  have  the  smallest  claim  to  credence. 
Unless,  indeed,  the  Prophet  was  in  the  habit  of  contra¬ 
dicting  himself  every  few  minutes,  the  most  cursory  study 
of  them  renders  this  obvious.  He  is  reputed  to  have  said, 
by  way  of  illustration,  that  Islam  would  eventually  be 
divided  into  seventy-two  sects,  all  of  which  would  end 
in  hell,  except  one.  He  did  not  say  which  ! 

The  first  part  of  this  alleged  prophecy  has,  however, 
very  nearly  come  true.  Islam,  to-day,  is  divided  into  two 
main  branches,  each  of  which  considers  the  other  heretical. 
These  in  turn  are  subdivided  into  sects  differing  from  one 
another  on  points  of  ritual  only,  and  there  are  a  number 
of  less  important  cults  doubtfully  classed  as  Moslems. 
The  schism  between  the  two  great  divisions,  known  as  the 
Sunna  and  Sheia,  began  in  the  political  quarrel  about  the 
succession.  To  put  it  as  briefly  as  may  be,  the  Sunna  hold 
that  the  office  of  Caliph  devolves  naturally  on  the  most 
powerful  Moslem  prince  for  the  time  being,  or  on  anyone 
else  elected  thereto,  irrespective  of  descent  or  even  nation¬ 
ality.  The  Sheia,  on  the  other  hand,  contend  that  the 
office  is  for  ever  vested  in  the  descendants  of  the  Prophet 
through  Ali  and  Fatima.  They  believe  that  Ali  was 
unjustly  deprived  of  his  rights  by  the  first  three  Caliphs. 

The  question  is  of  great  importance  at  the  present  day, 
in  view  of  Ottoman  pan-Islamic  aspirations.  According 


20 


INTRODUCTION 


to  the  first  view  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Sultan  of 

Turkey  should  not  be  Commander  of  the  Faithful  and 
«/ 

claim  as  such  the  allegiance  of  the  Moslem  world,  but  in 
the  Sheia  creed  this  is  ex  hypothesi  impossible. 

The  Persians,  about  half  the  Indian  Moslems,  and  many 
of  the  Arab  tribes  are  Sheia  ;  the  Turks,  Africans,  Afghans, 
and  the  rest  generally,  are  Sunna.  The  latter  are  divided 
into  four  principal  sects,  regarded  as  of  equal  orthodoxy, 
and  named  respectively,  Shafei,  Hanafi,  Maliki,  and 
Hambali — after  the  learned  men  who  founded  them.  There 
is  no  necessity  for  the  Moslem  to  belong  to  any  Gne  cf 
them ;  he  may,  if  he  please,  remain  an  independent 
believer. 

We  have,  so  far,  been  considering  Islam  as  it  appears 
from  a  study  of  the  history  and  contents  of  the  sacred 
books  themselves.  Had  we  proceeded  to  deduce  their 
nature  from  the  opinions  concerning  them  held  by  the 
present-day  professors  of  the  religion,  the  result  would  have 
been  different.  The  Moslem  ecclesiastic  of  to-day  regards 
the  Koran,  not  merely  as  an  inspired  utterance,  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  but  as  the  actual  word  of  God  Himself 
put  into  the  mouth  of  His  Prophet.  As  such,  it  is  in¬ 
controvertible  and  eternal,  and  no  free  interpretation, 
having  regard  to  altered  circumstances,  is  permissible. 

To  realize  his  point  of  view,  we  may  imagine  the  case 
of  a  Christian  who  took  the  books  of  Revelation,  and 
Leviticus  absolutely  literally,  instead  of  regarding  the 
one  as  allegorical  and  the  other  as  out  of  date.  Had  the 
Koran  described  a  bull  with  fifteen  brazen  tails,  the 
Moslem  child  would  be  taught  to  believe  that  such  a 
beast  actually  existed  somewhere  or  other.  Because  the 
lopping  off  of  hands  and  feet  as  a  punishment  for  theft 
was  necessary  and  desirable  in  Arabia  a  thousand  years 
ago,  the  same,  it  is  insisted,  must  be  equally  desirable  in 
Constantinople  at  the  present  time. 

The  moral  precepts  of  the  Koran  are  neglected,  while 
the  minutiae  of  its  ritual  are  strictly  observed.  A  devout 
Turk,  to  put  it  shortly,  thinks  that  as  long  as  he  says  his 
prayers  regularly,  fasts  in  Ramadan,  and  avoids  pork, 
it  does  not  much  matter  what  else  he  does  or  does  not  do. 

This  very  sketchy  exposition  of  a  vast  and  highly- 
contentious  subject  will  have  served  its  purpose  if  it 


INTRODUCTION 


21 


helps  readers  unacquainted  with  the  subject  to  under¬ 
stand  in  some  measure  the  Moslem’s  position  in  modern 
life,  and  his  relations  with  his  Christian  neighbours.  Since 
Islam  has  fared  very  badly  at  the  hands  of  Christian 
writers,  both  ancient  and  modern,  it  will  be  more  in¬ 
teresting  to  look  at  that  question  from  the  other  side— if 
only  for  a  change. 

Putting  aside  as  untenable  the  theory  that  the  Prophet 
was  an  absolute  impostor,  we  will  deal  first  with  the 
favourite  accusation  that  his  religion  has  been  propa¬ 
gated  solely  by  the  sword.  Yet  the  Moslem  sacred  law 
states  that  no  one  shall  be  compelled  to  accept  Islam ; 
and  this  has  been  more  than  once  invoked  by  the  eccle¬ 
siastical  against  the  temporal  authority  in  Turkey.  The 
Arab  Caliphs  enjoined  on  their  generals  respect,  not  only 
for  the  persons,  but  for  the  property  and  religious  edifices 
of  Christians.  We  ourselves  have  not  been  entirely  guiltless 
in  the  matter  of  forcing  our  civilization  on  peoples  who 
did  not  want  it,  and  at  the  time  of  writing  a  war  is  in 
progress  declared  by  a  Christian  on  a  Moslem  power  for 
that  avowed  purpose.  ^ 

The  history  of  Islam  is  a  record  of  bloodshed  and  de¬ 
bauchery,  but  not  more  so  than  that  of  Christendom. 
Fanatical  religious  sentiment  has  been  the  cause  of  much 
suffering  and  strife  in  the  case  of  the  former,  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  a  parallel  for  the  treachery  of  St.  Bartholomew’s 
Eve  or  the  cruelties  of  the  Inquisition  can  be  found  in 
Moslem  annals. 

The  position  of  women  in  Moslem  countries  is  often 
pointed  to  as  an  evil  inherent  in  this  religious  system, 
but  neither  the  Koran  nor  the  Prophet  can  fairly  be  held 
responsible  for  their  present-day  seclusion.  This  custom 
in  fact  originated  in  the  reign  of  the  Caliph  Omar,  and 
was  unknown  in  the  early  days  of  Islam.  It  is  not  of 
Arabian  origin,  but  derived  from  the  Far  East.  The 
Bedou  women  of  this  day  do  not  veil  their  faces,  though 
the  practice  is  general  in  towns.  As  regards  polygamy, 
which,  though  not  enjoined,  is  permitted  within  certain 
limits  by  the  Koran,  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  the 
world  as  it  then  was,  and  even  to-day  in  countries  like 
Arabia,  there  is  bound  to  be  a  great  numerical  prepon¬ 
derance  of  women  over  men,  for  the  reason  that  the 


22 


INTRODUCTION 


former  are  so  much  more  exposed  to  the  accidents  of 
life — war  principal  among  them.  A  monogamistic  system 
would  have  involved  a  great  hardship  to  this  surplus  of 
women  and  a  very  serious  decline  in  the  birth-rate — a 
matter  of  supreme  importance  to  a  community  when 
death  by  violence  is  the  most  probable  termination  to 
a  man’s  career.  Such  a  system  would  have  destroyed 
the  whole  social  fabric  of  the  day,  and  however  excellent 
in  principle  was  clearly  impossible  in  practice. 

Very  much  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  institution  of 
slavery.  The  most  that  could  be  done  here  was  to  regu¬ 
late  a  necessary  evil.  The  Koran  abounds  in  injunctions 
that  slaves  are  to  be  well  treated  and  states  that  no  act 
is  more  pleasing  to  God  than  their  manumission.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  Moslem  ideas  on  certain  points 
are  based  on  a  conception  of  human  life  totally  different 
from  our  own.  The  introduction  to  the  “  solemnization 
of  matrimony,”  for  example,  represents  a  frame  of  mind 
quite  inconceivable  to  them. 

It  is  not  fair  to  base  charges  of  grossness  and  sensuality 
on  certain  passages  in  the  Koran  relating  to  the  hereafter  ; 
and  those  who  do  so  lose  sight  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  was  revealed  or  imagined.  If  the  doctrine  of 
heaven  and  hell  is  to  be  worth  anything,  if  the  hope  of 
reward  and  the  fear  of  punishment  are  to  influence  men’s 
conduct,  then  the  one  must  be  depicted  as  blissful  and 
the  other  terrible  in  terms  which  will  be  comprehended  by 
those  to  whom  it  is  intended  to  appeal.  It  is  not  wonder¬ 
ful  that  paradise  should  be  presented  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Arabia  as  a  land  of  shady  trees,  green  meadows,  and 
running  water  ;  nor  that  beautiful  women  should  find  a 
place  in  the  Elysium  promised  to  the  race  which,  as  the 
story  goes,  absorbed  nine-tenths  of  the  entire  amount  of 
erotic  passion  destined  for  the  whole  of  mankind.  A 
state  of  infinite  peace  and  happiness  in  the  contemplation 
of  virtue  apotheosized  may  be  a  philosophical  conception 
of  heaven,  but  can  Mohammed’s  followers  be  blamed  for 
wanting  something  a  little  more  definite,  and  easy  to 
understand  ?  If  we  must  persist  in  interpreting  the  words 
of  the  Koran  as  positive  statements  of  fact  rather  than 
poetic  imagery  we  must,  to  be  just  and  logical,  treat  the 
Testaments  in  the  same  way.  I  once  listened  to  a  sermon 


INTRODUCTION 


23 


in  which  the  preacher  described  heaven  as  an  eternal 
Sunday.  There  is  no  accounting  for  taste,  but  if  this  be 
so,  I  do  not  intend  to  go  there  ;  and  feel  no  shame  in 
avowedly  preferring  the  paradise  which,  so  the  Prophet 
said,  lies  under  the  shadow  of  swords. 

The  fact  that  Moslem  communities  find  religion  an 
obstacle  to  their  progress  in  civilization  is  not,  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  entirely  the  fault  of  the  former.  It 
would  not  be  possible,  as  has  been  well  said,  to  conduct 
Great  Britain’s  foreign  policy  on  lines  consistent  with  a 
perfectly  literal  interpretation  of  the  “  sermon  on  the 
Mount.”  Yet  every  official  act  in  Turkey  has  to  be  made 
to  fit  in  somehow  with  a  “  sacred  law  ”  derived  from  the 
Koran  and  traditions  which,  like  the  law  of  the  Medes 
and  Persians,  cannot  alter.  So  far  from  a  more  liberal 
interpretation  becoming  gradually  accepted,  the  opposite 
has  occurred.  A  general  prohibition  against  usury  is 
now  made  to  include  the  businesses  of  bankers  and  in¬ 
surance  companies.  These  very  qualities  of  directness 
and  invariability  are  a  source  of  strength  as  well  as  weak¬ 
ness.  Believers  are  told  what  to  do  and  what  not  to  do 
in  terms  which  leave  no  room  for  misunderstanding  and 
little  to  the  imagination.  Sentiment  and  emotionalism 
are  conspicuously  absent  from  the  Koran  ;  a  spade  is 
called  a  spade,  and  trivialities  are  brushed  aside.  A  night 
spent  in  arms  in  a  righteous  cause  or  a  kind  action  done 
to  the  poor  or  fatherless  are  worth  in  the  sight  of  God,  we 
are  assured,  months  of  prayer  and  fasting.  This  habit 
of  literal  acceptance  causes  Moslems  to  give  practical 
effect  to  the  dictum  that  the  believers  are  brothers  irre¬ 
spective  of  race  or  colour,  and  explains  the  success  and 
growing  power  of  Islam  in  Africa  to-day. 

In  the  conclusion  of  the  writer,  religion  has  had  very 
little  to  do  with  the  development  of  the  Near  East  for  a 
long  time  past.  Every  country,  it  is  said,  gets  the  Govern¬ 
ment  it  deserves.  Had  the  Turks  in  the  days  of  their 
conquests  and  expansion  adopted  Christianity  instead 
of  Islam  as  their  State  religion,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
Ottoman  Empire  of  to-day  would  be  better  governed  or 
more  progressive  than  it  actually  is.  Few  people,  at  any 
rate,  who  have  had  opportunities  for  observing  Christian 
and  Moslem  populations  of  the  same  race,  living  under 


24  INTRODUCTION 

similar  conditions,  would  attempt  to  prove  that  it  would 
a  ' posteriori . 

This  introduction  would  be  incomplete  without  a  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  various  movements  for  the  reformation  of 
Islam  that  have  taken  place  subsequent  to  the  death 
of  its  founder.  It  is  remarkable  that  these  have  generally 
originated  in  Arabia  itself.  The  force  of  the  initial 
eruption  soon  expended  itself.  After  the  fall  of  the 
Bagdad  Caliphs,  the  Arabs  as  a  political  force  ceased  to 
count.  They  became  absorbed  in  the  populations  of 
the  countries  they  had  conquered  or  else  returned  to 
their  nomad  state.  Arabia  at  the  present  time  is  very 
much  as  the  Prophet  knew  it.  Though  most  Bedou 
tribes  profess  Islam,  they  have  little  regard  for  its  precepts 
or  ceremonies. 

Yet  the  most  important  of  these  revivals  was  originated 
by  an  Arab  of  Negd,  Abd-ul-Wahab,  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Disgusted  by  certain  super¬ 
stitious  and  idolatrous  practices  he  had  observed  on  the 
pilgrimage,  he  preached  on  his  return  to  his  own  country 
a  simpler  and  purer  conception  of  the  faith.  This  re¬ 
vival  met  with  great  success  for  a  time.  The  “  Waha- 
bies  ”  captured  Mecca  and  Medina  and  destroyed  Kerbela. 
They  threatened  the  very  existence  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
in  the  early  part  of  last  century,  but  were  finally 
crushed  by  Mohammed  Ali  in  1817—19,  in  a  campaign 
which  is  remarkable  as  being  the  only  occasion  on  record 
when  Central  Arabia  has  been  invaded  in  force.  The 
“  Senussi 55  confrerie  represents  another  movement  of  the 
same  nature  which  is  receiving  less  attention  than  it 
deserves.  The  more  celebrated  “Mahdi”  of  the  Sudan 
does  not,  however,  fall  in  this  category.  A  remarkable 
saying,  recorded  of  the  Prophet,  is  that  Islam,  after  at¬ 
taining  great  power,  will  gradually  decline  till  it  becomes 
little  more  than  a  name  in  the  world,  but  will  eventually 
be  regenerated  by  “  The  Mahdi,”  a  sort  of  Moslem  Messiah, 
who  is  to  convert  the  whole  world,  and  whose  coming 
will  herald  its  end.  The  Sudanese  “ Mahdi”  claimed 
to  be  this  Messiah,  and  requires  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  various  “  Mullahs  ”  and  others  who  claim  the  title 
of  “  Mahdi,”  which  merely  means  divinely  guided,  and 
without  the  definite  article  has  no  special  significance. 


INTRODUCTION 


25 


Finally,  an  allusion  is  necessary  to  the  religious  societies 
of  Islam.  It  would  appear  from  the  Koran  and  the  tra¬ 
ditions  that  all  forms  of  monasticism  or  sacerdotalism 
are  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  religion.  These  cults, 
known  as  Derweishes,  bound  by  certain  vows,  and  prac¬ 
tising  ceremonies  of  their  own  invention,  are  none  the 
less  very  numerous  in  most  Moslem  countries.  Their 
practices  and  beliefs  are  characterized  in  many  cases  by 
the  grossest  superstition,  and  the  ridiculous  antics  of  the 
dancing,  howling,  and  other  Derweish  bands  have  nothing 
in  common  with  the  simple  and  dignified  ritual  prescribed 
by  the  Koran.  Europeans,  however,  not  conversant  with 
the  East,  often  find  some  difficulty  in  dissociating  the 
two — a  confusion  of  ideas  not  unnatural  when  we  con¬ 
sider  how  easily  a  casual  Moslem  traveller  in  Southern 
Europe  might  be  led  to  consider  that  belief  in  the  evil 
eye  formed  part  of  the  State  religion. 


PART  I 


CHAPTER  I 

LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 

The  town  of  Mecca,  as  we  have  already  seen,  contains 
a  temple  which  was  an  object  of  veneration  in  pre- 
Islamic  days.  In  order  to  make  clear  how  and  why  the 
Prophet  came  to  substitute  Islam  for  the  old  idolatrous 
religion  without  disturbing  the  sanctity  of  the  Meccan 
shrine,  we  must  re-edit  a  little  Biblical  history  from  a 
Moslem  standpoint. 

The  temple  known  as  the  Kaaba  (the  word  means  a 
cube)  was  built,  then,  originally  by  Adam  in  the  likeness 
of  a  house  he  had  seen  in  paradise  before  the  Fall.  It 
was  rebuilt  after  the  Flood  by  Abraham  and  Ishmael, 
and  reconsecrated  to  the  service  of  the  true  God.  The 
Arabs,  however,  in  the  course  of  centuries  fell  away  from 
the  true  faith,  and  a  polytheistic  religion  grew  up  which, 
while  losing  sight  of  the  deity  in  honour  of  whom  it  was 
founded,  continued  to  regard  the  Kaaba  itself  as  an 
object  of  worship.  Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when 
Mohammed  began  his  preaching,  and  the  earlier  reve¬ 
lations  he  received  made  Jerusalem  the  “  Kibla,”  that 
is  to  say  the  most  sacred  spot  on  earth,  towards  which 
worshippers  turn  when  praying.  Later  on,  however, 
this  direction  was  cancelled  :  Mecca  was  substituted  for 
Jerusalem,  and  the  Kaaba  pronounced  to  be  the  first 
and  holiest  of  temples.  A  pilgrimage  to  it,  once  in  a 
lifetime,  was  declared  to  be  obligatory  on  every  Moslem 
for  whom  the  undertaking  should  be  possible.* 

~~  Reasons  of  policy  accounted  for  this  “change  of 

*  A  certain  period  in  every  year  was  ordained  for  the  observance 
of  certain  rites  in  and  around  Mecca,  the  due  performance  of  which 
on  the  appointed  days  constitutes  a  Moslem’s  claim  to  be  a  Hagi  or 
pilgrim. 


26 


27 


LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 

front,”  in  the  opinion  of  non-Moslem  critics.  The  con¬ 
version  of  the  Meccans  themselves  constituted,  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  Prophet’s  career  as  such,  his 
principal  immediate  aim.  Since  the  worldly  prosperity 
of  the  Meccans  depended  then,  as  it  does  to-day,  on  the 
sanctity  of  their  city,  they  were  evidently  more  likely 
to  listen  to  reason  if  the  new  religion  they  were  invited 
to  embrace  left  this  undisturbed.  Mohammed,  by  the 
above  ingenious  method,  succeeded  in  actually  enhancing 
it.  His  quarrel  with  the  Jews  also  is  believed  to  have 
influenced  him  in  this  matter. 

Be  the  explanation  what  it  may,  the  temple,  the  city, 
and  even  the  surrounding  country  were  proclaimed  to 
be  of  so  highly  sanctified  a  character  that  no  unbeliever 
should  dare  thenceforward  to  set  foot  in  this  sacred 
territory.  It  is  not  the  least  likely  that  the  Prophet 
meant  to  exclude  Jews  and  Christians,  but  then  he  was 
very  much  more  broad-minded  than  any  of  his  successors 
have  been.  His  commands,  however,  were  construed  in 
that  way,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  no  instance  is  on 
record  of  any  one  having  transgressed  them  openly  and 
returned  to  tell  the  tale. 

This  prohibition  against  the  intrusion  of  unbelievers 
has  been  extended  to  include  Medina,  which  acquires  its 
special  sanctity  from  the  fact  that  the  Prophet  himself 
and  many  of  his  companions  are  buried  there.  Most 
Islamic  sects  set  high  value  on  a  visit  to  this  city,  and 
the  Sheia  esteem  one  as  being  almost  equal  in  merit 
to  the  pilgrimage  itself. 

It  would  be  strange  indeed  if  the  exclusive  character 
of  these  cities  had  not  excited  in  Western  Europe  the 
liveliest  curiosity  concerning  them.  Before  going 
further,  let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  any  one  who 
wishes  to  visit  them  may  do  so,  after  publicly  professing 
Islam.  It  would  be  necessary  to  go  before  a  Kadhi, 
repeat  certain  formulae  and  submit,  in  most  cases,  to 
one  of  the  minor  operations  of  surgery.  This  done,  and 
a  sufficiently  long  apprenticeship  served  to  convince  the 
local  Moslem  feeling  that  the  convert’s  professions  were 
sincere,  there  would  be  no  objection  to  his  making  the 
pilgrimage.  A  long  and  drivelling  correspondence  be¬ 
tween  himself,  the  Foreign  Office,  and  the  Sublime  Porte, 


28  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


would  probably  end  in  the  last  named  having  exhausted 
all  possible  pretexts  for  further  delay,  giving  him  a 
special  passport.  This  once  obtained,  the  Ottoman 
Government  would  be  responsible  for  his  welfare,  and 
he  would  be  enabled  to  travel  to  Mecca  and  Medina 
without  running  any  special  risk.  He  would  probably 
be  given  an  escort  and  otherwise  looked  after.  He 
would  generally  be  regarded  as  a  legitimate  object  for 
curiosity,  if  not  suspicion. 

The  only  alternative  to  this  unattractive  prospect,  if 
one  wishes  to  see  these  places,  is  to  go  there  in  disguise. 

The  writer  made  the  pilgrimage  in  the  year  1908-9, 
partly  out  of  curiosity,  more  particularly  to  accustom 
himself  to  Arab  ways  with  a  view  to  future  journeys  in 
disguise  into  the  unexplored  interior.  The  rank  and 
reputation  of  a  Hagi,  that  is  to  say,  one  who  has  duly 
performed  certain  rites  on  the  prescribed  day  at  Mecca,  is 
useful  to  the  traveller  in  Moslem  countries. 

The  following  pages  contain  an  account  of  the  journey 
that  I  wrote  on  my  return,  and  did  not  originally  intend 
to  publish.  It  shows  that  the  Hedjaz  is  by  no  means 
the  inaccessible  country  it  is  often  supposed  to  be. 
Masaudi,  I  must  explain,  is  a  Mombasa  Swahili  whom  I 
took  to  England  on  purpose  to  assist  me  in  the  enterprise, 
and  Abdul  Wahid  is  an  Arab  from  Aleppo,  established  in 
Berlin,  whom  I  4 4  signed  on  ”  later. 

The  three  of  us  foregathered  at  Marseilles  on  September 
23,  1908.  The  pilgrimage  was  taking  place  that  year  at 
the  beginning  of  January,  but  as  I  intended  to  go  to 
Medina  first  and  to  stay  some  time  in  both  places,  we 
were  not  starting  too  early.  I  also  wanted  to  stay 
sufficiently  long  in  Damascus  to  convince  myself  that 
my  assumption  of  an  Eastern  character  was  effective, 
before  entering  the  forbidden  territory. 

The  first  difficulty  that  confronted  us  was  how  to 
procure  for  Masaudi  and  myself  the  necessary  passports. 
Abdul  Wahid  already  had  one,  which  only  needed  re¬ 
newing.  We  adopted  certain  measures  to  overcome  this 
difficulty,  as  a  result  of  which  I  got  a  Turkish  passport 
describing  me  as  one  Ali  bin  Mohammed,  aged  twenty- 
five,  a  subject  of  Zanzibar,  on  his  way  to  Mecca.  This 
document  lately  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turkish  authori- 


LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 


29 


ties,  and  there  has  been  some  trouble  in  consequence. 
I  had  better  therefore  confine  myself  to  saying  that  the 
official  who  issued  it  to  me  did  not  realize  that  I  was  an 
Englishman,  and  that  bribery  played  no  part  in  the 
transaction. 

The  question  of  passports  being  disposed  of  thus 
satisfactorily,  we  were  all  anxious  to  get  out  of  Mar¬ 
seilles  as  soon  as  possible.  The  hotel  at  which  we  were 
putting  up,  though  cheap — three  francs  per  diem — was 
somewhat  malodorous.  We  spent  the  afternoon  in 
visiting  the  offices  of  various  steamship  companies,  hoping 
to  get  second-class  berths  to  either  Egypt  or  Syria. 
This  proved  impossible,  all  the  steamers  being  full  up. 
The  only  accommodation  available  for  the  next  fort¬ 
night  was  first-class  P.  and  O.,  or  third-class  Messageries, 
neither  of  which  suited  us  at  all. 

It  then  occurred  to  me  that  we  might  go  on  to  Genoa, 
whence  I  knew  that  there  were  a  number  of  lesser  known 
steamship  lines  plying  East,  and  where  I  thought  we 
should  run  much  less  risk  of  being  recognized,  in  case  it 
was  necessary  to  wait  for  any  length  of  time.  More¬ 
over,  I  had  never  before  been  there.  Having  decided  on 
this  course,  we  lost  little  time  in  making  our  few  arrange¬ 
ments,  and  left  Marseilles  at  midnight.  We  got  to 
Genoa  at  4  p.m.  next  day,  and  found  a  cheap  but  by  no 
means  bad  hotel  on  the  road  leading  from  the  station. 
Indeed  the  only  real  objection  to  it  was  the  unceasing 
noise  of  traffic  rumbling  over  the  paved  streets,  which 
prevented  one  from  hearing  a  word  that  was  said.  In 
the  course  of  the  evening  we  visited  all  the  steamship 
offices,  and  eventually  took  second-class  berths  in  the 
“  Falerno,”  which  was  not  starting  for  the  next  eight 
days,  but  was  the  first  ship  available.  The  prospect  of 
so  long  a  wait  was  by  no  means  agreeable  in  the  circum¬ 
stances,  but  there  was  nothing  else  for  it. 

I  will  pass  over  the  days  we  spent  at  Genoa.  We  ate, 
slept,  read,  and  wandered  about  the  town,  and  were  very 
bored.  The  other  people  of  the  hotel  were  Italians,  and 
most  of  them,  I  should  say,  commercial  travellers.  They 
were  not  inquisitive — which  was  the  main  thing. 

We  embarked  on  a  Tuesday  evening,  and  found  the 
“Falerno  ”  to  be  a  ship  of  some  two  thousand  tons  burthen, 


30  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


and  of  a  distinctly  shoddy  appearance.  There  were  six 
berths  in  our  cabin,  and  a  saloon  which  served  all  other 
purposes.  On  deck  there  was  no  accommodation  at  all 
for  the  second  class,  and  precious  little  for  the  first.  The 
first  few  days  were  tolerable,  for  we  practically  had  the 
ship  to  ourselves,  but  after  Naples  every  berth  was  filled. 
The  people  in  our  cabin  were  very  sea-sick  when  it  was 
rough,  and  very  noisy  when  it  wasn’t.  We  took  in  all 
nine  days  to  get  to  Alexandria.  There  were  no  English 
people  on  board,  but  I  think  nearly  every  other  European 
nationality  had  a  representative.  We  of  course  kept 
very  much  to  ourselves  and  sat  at  the  end  of  the  table.  I 
admitted  to  knowing  a  little  French,  and  occasionally 
conversed  in  that  language  with  a  rather  good-looking, 
and  very  well-dressed  man,  who  told  me  he  was  an  officer 
of  the  Khedive’s  household,  and  whom  I  strongly  suspect 
to  have  been  his  valet. 

We  arrived  at  Alexandria  late  at  night,  but  did  not 
land  till  the  following  morning.  We  were  taken  at  once 
to  the  passport  office,  where  we  produced  our  passports 
and  had  them  duly  “  vise’d.”  We  then  passed  on  to  the 
Customs  shed.  They  asked  if  we  had  anything  to  declare, 
and  we  said  we  hadn’t.  I  should  explain  that  previous 
to  coming  ashore  I  had  taken  the  precaution  to  pocket 
all  the  pistols  and  ammunition  in  our  possession,  as  wrell 
as  certain  papers  of  a  compromising  nature,  such  as  my 
English  passport,  cheque  book,  and  so  on.  We  also  had 
in  our  luggage  some  watches  and  other  things  intended 
for  presents  later  on,  among  them  several  of  some  value. 
These  had  been  put  in  the  pockets  of  the  clothes  to 
avoid  breakage.  There  were  also  a  medicine  case,  ban¬ 
dages,  and  various  similar  things.  They  made  us  open 
all  the  boxes  and  turn  out  the  contents,  which  they 
searched  carefully,  reading  every  paper,  opening  every 
book,  and  laying  violent  hands  on  everything  they  found 
of  the  slightest  value.  The  first  box  being  thus  disposed 
of,  we  were  told  to  repack  it.  Realizing,  that  after  all 
this  trouble  with  the  boxes,  they  could  not  intend  to 
neglect  the  contents  of  our  pockets,  Masaudi  and  I, 
while  doing  so,  contrived  to  include  the  pistols,  papers, 
and  other  things.  In  this  way  we  managed  to  offload 
what  we  were  carrying,  but  to  communicate  with  Abdul 


31 


LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 

Wahid  was  impossible,  and  I  foresaw  disaster  imminent. 
Sure  enough,  our  boxes  having  been  gone  through,  we  were 
herded  into  an  inner  apartment  and  searched.  Masaudi 
and  I  were  innocent  enough  of  contraband  articles,  nothing 
more  exciting  coming  to  light  than  £200  in  gold.  Abdul 
Wahid,  however,  was  made  to  disgorge  pistols,  ammuni¬ 
tion,  postcards,  and  jewellery  in  an  apparently  endless 
stream,  all  of  which  were  pounced  upon  by  the  excited 
officials.  After  a  consultation  we  were  all  arrested  as 
suspicious  characters,  and  put  under  a  guard  to  await  the 
arrival  of  the  Mudir.  That  functionary  when  he  eventu¬ 
ally  turned  up  two  hours  late  decided  that  the  case  was  too 
serious  for  him  to  deal  with,  and  referred  it  to  the  Pasha. 
It  being  Ramadan  the  Pasha  did  not  appear  till  about 
one  o’clock,  and  when  he  did  I  saw  at  once  that  he  was  one 
of  those  people  with  whom  fasting  does  not  agree.  He 
was  in  a  bad  temper.  We  were  subjected  to  a  searching 
cross-examination.  The  medicine  case  and  instruments 
in  particular  came  in  for  much  undesirable  attention. 
They  could  not  imagine  what  we  could  want  with  such 
things.  As  luck  would  have  it  I  had  previously  arranged 
with  Abdul  Wahid  that  in  the  event  of  any  discussion  he 
should  lay  claim  to  anything  of  this  sort  and  conduct  the 
conversation.  To  this  foresight,  and  our  good  luck  in 
returning  the  documents  unobserved,  we  owed  our 
salvation.  Abdul  Wahid,  being  the  principal  offender, 
came  in  for  most  of  the  suspicion  attaching  to  us  col¬ 
lectively.  No  one  took  much  notice  of  Masaudi  and 
myself.  But  so  far  as  his  being  a  true  Arab  was  con¬ 
cerned  his  bona  fides  was  unquestionable,  and  he  talked 
so  much  and  so  fast  that  he  eventually  tired  them  out. 
We  were  dismissed  with  a  caution,  all  dutiable  things 
being  retained  at  the  Customs  House,  to  be  given  up  when 
we  sailed  for  Beyrout.  So  about  2.30  p.m.  we  emerged 
once  more  into  the  sunlight,  very  hungry  and  tired,  but 
feeling  that  when  all  was  said  and  done  we  had  got  dis¬ 
tinctly  the  best  of  the  encounter.  I  came  in  for  the 
warmest  congratulations  from  Abdul  Wahid  on  having 
got  rid  of  the  documents  in  the  manner  I  have  described. 
He  was  of  course  unaware  that  I  had  done  so,  and  when 
we  were  searched  regarded  discovery,  with  its  attendant 
publicity,  if  no  worse,  as  absolutely  inevitable.  When 


S2  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


nothing  at  all  was  found  on  us  his  amazement  was  only 
equalled  by  his  relief,  and  I  felt  that  I  had  risen  several 
degrees  in  his  estimation  from  that  day  forward. 

We  asked  the  sentry  at  the  gates  to  recommend  us  a 
cheap  hotel  suitable  for  persons  of  our  description,  which 
he  did  unhesitatingly.  We  found  it  to  consist  of  a  suite 
of  rooms  situated  over  a  barber’s  shop,  and  when  we 
came  to  inspect  the  interior  I  could  not  help  thinking  that 
the  sentry  had  formed  an  undeservedly  small  opinion 
of  us.  However,  it  was  certainly  cheap  (one  franc  per 
diem),  and  reasonably  clean.  After  a  furious  row  with 
the  porters  carrying  our  boxes,  we  eventually  settled  with 
them,  got  a  change  and  some  food,  and  refreshed  our¬ 
selves  by  a  short  sleep.  In  the  evening  we  repaired  to 
the  nearest  Hamam  (Turkish  bath).  I  now  took  the 
precaution  to  shave  my  head  with  a  view  to  looking  as 
“  un-European  ”  as  possible,  and  dressed  in  Arab  clothes, 
as  also  did  the  others.  Hitherto  we  had  been  wearing 
our  ordinary  clothes,  with  the  addition  only  of  the  tar¬ 
boosh.  I  was  pleased  to  find  that  our  appearance  seemed 
to  excite  no  particular  interest.  During  the  few  days 
we  spent  at  Alexandria  we  were  occasionally  asked  from 
what  country  we  came — being  obviously  foreigners. 
Abdul  Wahid  usually  said  Bagdad,  which  did  for  all  three 
of  us  ;  and  when  it  was  necessary  to  explain  further 
Zanzibar  satisfied  the  most  curious. 

The  next  day  we  took  deck  passages  on  a  Khedivial 
Mail  ship  for  Bey  rout.  The  first  available  was  starting 
in  three  days’  time,  but  as  the  delay  afforded  me  an 
opportunity  to  get  accustomed  to  the  new  conditions  of 
life,  as  well  as  to  practise  colloquial  Egyptian  Arabic, 
it  was  not  unwelcome.  The  language  question,  which 
strikes  most  people  as  the  greatest  obstacle  to  travelling 
in  disguise,  is  not  really  so  formidable  as  it  appears. 
In  Arabic  there  are  so  many  dialects,  so  widely  divergent 
in  their  pronunciation  and  vocabulary,  that  peculiarities 
of  either  excite  little  attention.  A  man  from  the  Yemen, 
for  instance,  does  not  readily  understand  two  Egyptians 
talking  together,  though  he  may  converse  with  them 
himself  without  difficulty  ;  this  is  for  the  reason  that 
strangers  in  conversation  one  with  another  can  employ 
the  more  correct  pronunciation  and  grammar  more 


38 


LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 

nearly  approximating  to  that  of  the  classical  or  written 
language,  and  can  further  avoid  local  slang  and  any 
particular  variety  of  dialectical  pronunciation  that  might 
make  their  speech  difficult  to  understand.  Then  again, 
there  are  large  numbers  of  people  in  all  Eastern  countries 
calling  themselves  Arabs  who  are  really  Persians,  Kurds, 
Turks,  etc.,  most  of  whom  are  physically  incapable  of 
giving  the  true  Bedoui  *  pronunciation  to  the  various 
consonants  characteristic  of  the  Arabic  language.  This 
remark  applies  also  to  the  Egyptians  :  a  Cairo-born 
man  can  no  more  pronounce  ^  properly  than  if  he 
came  from  Clapham  Common. 

I  overcame  all  difficulty  in  the  matter  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  saying  that  in  Zanzibar  the  colloquial 
language  was  Swahili  and  that  no  one  talked  Arabic — 
which  is  a  fact.  Among  the  people  with  whom  I  as¬ 
sociated  no  one  knew  Swahili  at  all.  I  was  able  conse¬ 
quently  to  ask  Masaudi’s  advice  openly  in  any  difficulty 
without  the  slightest  fear  of  being  understood,  a  facility 
of  which  I  often  availed  myself.  I  was  careful  always 
to  talk  to  him  very  fast,  so  as  to  give  the  impression  that 
I  was  speaking  my  native  language.  On  the  few  occa¬ 
sions  that  I  had  to  speak  Swahili  to  natives  of  those 
parts,  I  merely  inverted  the  statement  and  told  them 
that  having  been  born  in  Muscat  my  real  language  was 
Arabic.  I  never  found  any  one  sufficiently  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  both  languages  to  find  me  out,  and  of 
course  I  was  at  pains  to  avoid  the  society  of  any  one  who 
was  likely  to  be  able  to  do  so.  Burton  I  believe  employed 
very  much  the  same  device  on  his  journey.  It  is  in  fact 
the  obvious  thing  to  do. 

We  left  Alexandria  on  a  Wednesday,  sailing  about 
4  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  At  2  o’clock  we  went  down 
to  the  Customs  House  and  recovered  our  things.  We 
were  then  taken  to  the  police  station,  where  our  passports 
were  again  inspected,  and  our  countenances  subjected  to 
a  careful  scrutiny  to  see  if  they  resembled  any  of  the 
criminals  whose  photographs  were  pasted  over  the  walls. 

*  In  this  and  other  similar  words  the  termination  “  i  ”  indicates  the 
singular  or  the  adjective.  The  plural  is  “  Bedou.”  I  have  taken  no 
account  of  the  feminine  singular  “  Redouwiyah,”  which  also  serves 
for  the  adjectival  plural. 

3 


34  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Having  satisfied  themselves  on  this  point,  the  police 
passed  us  on  to  the  quarantine  office,  where  our  luggage 
was  again  opened,  but  as  it  contained  nothing  of  the 
nature  of  dirty  clothes  we  were  excused  fumigation  and 
introduced  forthwith  to  another  room  to  await  the 
doctor  who  was  to  examine  our  persons.  The  examina¬ 
tion  was  quite  farcical.  We  were  made  to  stand  in 
a  line  down  which  the  doctor  walked  prodding  us  under 
the  arms — after  which  ceremony  we  were  released  and 
allowed  to  go  on  board.  The  idea  is  to  discover  the 
glandular  swellings  which  are  the  characteristic  symptom 
of  plague  ;  but  of  course  a  case  sufficiently  advanced  to 
be  detected  by  such  means  would  scarcely  be  in  a  state 
to  start  on  a  journey,  so  that  I  cannot  see  that  these 
formalities  serve  any  good  purpose.  The  inspection,  if 
really  necessary,  should  at  least  be  thorough  and  include 
temperature-taking,  which  alone  can  be  relied  on  to  afford 
indication  of  incipient  cases.  As  carried  out  at  present 
the  quarantine  regulations  in  this  part  of  the  East  are 
merely  vexatious. 

The  steamer  was  one  of  the  largest  of  the  line,  over 
5,000  tons,  if  I  remember  rightly.  She  was  very  crowded 
— on  deck  at  least.  We  were  located  in  the  after  part 
of  the  ship  and  were  apparently  very  late  in  arriving, 
as  all  the  best  places  had  already  been  taken.  After 
considerable  squabbling  we  succeeded  in  planting  our 
carpet  on  top  of  a  large  chest  fixed  to  the  port  bulwark, 
which  seemed  to  me  a  peculiarly  advantageous  position, 
being  clean,  and  well  above  the  crowd.  The  objection  to 
it  we  discovered  shortly  after  starting,  when  it  was  too 
late  to  change.  It  was  in  fact  the  ice  chest,  and  through¬ 
out  the  voyage,  whenever  the  cook  wanted  anything  out 
of  it,  we  had  to  roll  up  our  blankets  and  other  belongings 
and  get  off — to  our  own  extreme  annoyance  and  the 
amusement  of  our  fellow-passengers.  This  happened 
on  the  average  ten  times  a  day.  That  evening  the  boat¬ 
swain,  a  Turk,  offered  us  his  cabin  for  the  sum  of  £2. 
We  said  ten  shillings  and  finally  compromised  for  a  louis. 
This  cabin,  which  contained  two  wooden  bunks,  was 
placed  directly  over  the  rudder.  It  afforded  us  some 
welcome  privacy,  and  shelter  in  bad  weather,  but  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  sleep  there  owing  to  the  heat  and 


LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 


35 


stuffy  atmosphere,  to  say  nothing  of  the  size  and  ferocity 
of  the  fleas  that  infested  it.  The  other  passengers  were 
a  medley  of  all  races  and  colours — Greeks,  Italians, 
Egyptians,  Arabs  from  the  West,  Syrians,  and  Turks — 
all  crowded  together  on  deck  so  that  it  was  almost  im¬ 
possible  to  walk  without  treading  on  some  one.  Com¬ 
panions  in  misfortune — for  the  sea  was  rough  and  they 
were  mostly  bad  sailors — they  were  not  disposed  to  be 
quarrelsome,  which  was  just  as  well.  By  no  means  all  of 
them  were  poor  people.  Many  no  doubt  were  better  able 
to  afford  a  first-class  fare  than  some  of  those  travelling  that 
way.  Moslems  prefer  as  a  rule  to  travel  on  deck,  on 
account  of  the  food  question.  This  always  presents  a 
difficulty  to  the  more  old-fashioned,  since  according  to 
the  letter  of  the  law  meat  is  only  fit  for  food  when  the 
animal  has  been  slaughtered  in  a  certain  way  and  by  a 
Mussulman.  In  Mohammedan  countries  meat  lawfully 
killed  receives  a  Government  stamp,  which  must  be 
shown  to  the  customer  on  demand.  Moreover  they  are 
deterred  from  eating  European  food  by  the  fear  that 
pork  of  some  kind  is  used  in  its  preparation.  Of  course 
their  rules,  if  faithfully  observed,  would  prevent  a  Mussul¬ 
man  travelling  in  Europe  at  all.  It  is  generally  con¬ 
sidered,  however,  that  the  avoidance  of  anything  known 
to  contain  swine-flesh  complies  sufficiently  with  the 
spirit  of  the  law. 

We  reached  Port  Said  the  following  morning,  and 
spent  the  day  ashore — which  illustrates  the  absurdity  of 
the  quarantine  laws.  Any  one  could  have  gone  aboard 
there  who  pleased,  simply  by  saying  that  he  had  come 
from  Alexandria.  Port  Said  is  not  a  pleasant  place  at 
any  time,  but  never  before  have  I  disliked  it  so  much. 
We  were  thankful  to  get  off  again.  The  next  morning 
we  arrived  at  Jaffa — the  port  of  Jerusalem.  Here  a  good 
many  passengers  disembarked  and  more  came  aboard. 
The  roadstead  is  open,  and  in  the  rough  weather  we  were 
experiencing  there  was  sufficient  sea  to  make  landing  in 
boats  difficult.  Having  now  reached  Turkish  territory, 
we  were  once  more  quarantined.  A  disinfecting  engine 
was  brought  aboard  and  we  were  told  to  strip,  in  order 
that  our  clothes  might  be  disinfected  and  ourselves 
examined.  Here  I  drew  the  line,  and  for  a  dollar  bribed 


36  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


one  of  the  officials  to  let  ns  off.  He  took  it  so  readily 
that  I  knew  at  once  I  was  overpaying  him.  We  got  a 
ticket  to  certify  that  we  had  been  “  done,”  and  passed 
along  to  the  doctor  who  was  in  a  saloon  at  the  other  end 
of  the  ship,  to  get  our  landing  certificate  for  Beyrout. 
We  were  thus  enabled  to  enjoy  the  spectacle  of  the 
fumigation  of  the  other  passengers,  which  we  certainly 
should  not  have  done  had  we  been  waiting  our  own  turn. 
Their  language  as  the  clothes  were  handed  back  wringing 
wet,  and  in  the  case  of  coloured  things  often  quite  ruined, 
was  worth  hearing.  Having  finished  spoiling  the  clothes 
they  proceeded  to  squirt  the  remainder  of  the  fluid  over 
the  ship  at  random,  thereby  giving  rise  to  more  blasphemy 
on  the  part  of  people  who  happened  to  get  it  in  their 
eyes.  When  as  much  general  inconvenience  as  possible 
had  been  thus  occasioned,  the  quarantine  launch  sailed 
away  and  we  were  allowed  to  proceed. 

The  wind  had  been  rising  all  day,  and  with  it  the  sea. 
We  reached  Haifa  at  nightfall,  and  stayed  an  hour.  On 
leaving  the  sheltered  bay  near  Mount  Carmel  we  got  into 
very  rough  water.  Several  heavy  seas  broke  on  board, 
and  our  position  on  the  ice  chest  becoming  too  precarious, 
Masaudi  and  I  took  refuge  in  our  cabin  ;  but  Abdul  Wahid, 
who  had  long  passed  the  stage  where  drowning  possesses 
any  terrors,  refused  to  shift.  Not  wishing,  however,  to 
lose  him  in  this  manner,  we  hauled  him  and  his  belongings 
off,  and  deposited  him  in  the  weather  scuppers,  which, 
though  now  well  awash,  yet  seemed  the  safest  and  driest 
place  left.  The  state  of  the  decks  was  unpleasant,  and  I 
congratulated  myself  on  having  taken  the  cabin.  After 
a  night  which  was  uncomfortable  for  us  but  must  have 
been  ten  times  more  so  for  those  on  deck,  we  reached 
calmer  water,  and  entered  Beyrout  harbour  about 
sunrise. 

It  was  here  that  I  was  chiefly  apprehensive  of  trouble 
with  the  authorities,  for  I  had  always  understood  that 
in  Turkey  they  were  very  cautious  about  admitting 
strangers  without  the  surest  credentials.  I  was  quite 
prepared  for  many  inconvenient  questions  about  our¬ 
selves,  and  thought  it  by  no  means  unlikely  that  we 
should  be  detained  for  a  time.  We  had  therefore  made 
somewhat  elaborate  preparations  for  all  such  eventuali- 


LONDON  TO  BEYROUT 


37 


ties,  and  were  thoroughly  primed  as  to  the  answers  we 
should  give  to  almost  any  conceivable  inquiry.  Should 
my  medicine  chest  for  instance  give  rise  to  suspicion, 
Abdul  Wahid  was  to  say  that  his  brother,  who  was  a 
doctor  in  Bagdad,  had  asked  him  to  buy  it  for  him  in 
Europe. — which  we  thought  would  account  for  the 
former’s  ignorance  of  the  contents  and  their  uses.  In 
this  way  we  hoped  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the  trouble 
which  had  so  nearly  landed  us  in  disaster  at  Alexandria. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  our  precautions  were  unnecessary. 
On  landing  we  were  shown  into  a  small  office  where  a 
man  in  uniform  “  vise’d  ”  our  passports  after  a  bare 
glance  at  their  contents.  He  displayed  some  slight 
interest  in  my  sword,  a  Muscat  weapon  of  somewhat 
peculiar  pattern,  but  after  making  a  few  playful  passes 
at  the  office  table  he  handed  it  back  without  comment. 
We  went  on  to  the  Customs,  where  they  made  us  open 
our  boxes  without  even  asking  if  we  had  anything  to 
declare.  After  a  cursory  inspection  they  asked  about 
our  firearms,  which  we  produced.  On  hearing  that  we 
were  pilgrims  they  offered  no  objection  to  our  bringing 
them  in,  though  we  had  to  pay  a  trifling  duty. 

While  awaiting  the  completion  of  these  formalities 
I  had  leisure  to  observe  the  method  of  procedure  in  the 
case  of  the  other  passengers,  and  saw  that  they  were  not 
all  escaping  so  lightly.  Some  of  the  European  travellers 
seemed  to  be  undergoing  much  the  same  sort  of  ordeal 
that  we  had  been  subjected  to  at  Alexandria.  I  believe 
that  the  new  era  of  liberty  which  was  then  supposed  to 
be  dawning  for  Turkey  had  something  to  do  with  the 
relaxation  in  our  own  case  of  the  police  inquisition  which 
was  formerly  so  troublesome.  Be  the  explanation  what 
it  may,  we  ourselves  passed  without  difficulty,  and  found 
ourselves  at  last  in  Turkish  territory  and  free  to  go  where 
we  would. 

For  two  francs  a  night  we  got  two  large  clean  rooms 
in  a  hotel,  if  it  may  so  be  called,  for  food  was  not  ob¬ 
tainable  on  the  premises.  We  spent  the  day  in  wandering 
about  the  town,  making  a  few  necessary  purchases. 
Beyrout  is  interesting  in  its  way,  and  more  Eastern  in 
character  than  any  place  I  have  visited  in  Egypt,  though 
far  less  so  than  Damascus.  The  population  consists 


38  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


very  largely  of  Christians  and  Jews.  I  would  have 
liked  to  spend  several  days  here,  but  for  various  reasons 
we  decided  to  go  on  to  Damascus.  We  were  all  very 
thankful  to  have  no  more  travelling  by  sea  ahead  of  us 
(as  we  then  thought),  and  were  rather  elated  at  the  success 
which  had  thus  far  attended  us.  After  the  evening  meal 
we  sat  outside  a  cafe  in  the  principal  square  of  the  town, 
smoked,  drank  coffee,  and  chatted  with  various  people. 
As  we  had  to  start  at  daybreak  the  next  morning  we 
turned' in  early. 


CHAPTER  II 


DAMASCUS 

The  scenery  of  the  Lebanon  range  has  often  been  de¬ 
scribed.  Especially  beautiful  is  the  view  over  the  MedL 
terranean  from  the  summit. 

We  travelled  third  class  and  formed  a  party  of  eight — 
the  others  being  Syrian  merchants  of  Damascus.  They 
kept  up  a  ceaseless  flow  of  conversation  on  every  imagin¬ 
able  subject,  much  of  which  was  lost  on  me,  as  I  found 
considerable  difficulty  in  understanding  them.  We  were 
consoled  for  the  heat  and  discomfort  by  the  beautiful 
figs  and  grapes  obtainable  at  nearly  every  station,  and 
we  ate  of  them  far  more  than  was  good  for  us.  The 
first-class  carriages,  from  what  I  saw  of  them,  seemed 
fairly  comfortable  and  almost  empty.  It  seems  to  be  an 
Eastern  peculiarity  to  economize  when  travelling.  Per¬ 
sonally,  I  have  always  thought  that  at  no  other  time  does 
one  get  such  good  value  for  money.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  enjoyment  of  wealth  consists  in  its  power 
to  raise  a  golden  screen  between  its  possessor  and  the 
minor  unpleasantnesses  of  life  ;  on  a  journey,  at  any 
rate,  it  does  in  some  measure  succeed  in  doing  so.  But 
I  have  never  met  the  Oriental  who  did  not  regard  the 
bare  suggestion  of  paying  a  first-class  fare  or  hiring  an 
extra  camel  with  pious  horror,  though  he  will  readily 
spend  ten  times  as  much  on  something  quite  unnecessary 
which  happens  to  take  his  fancy. 

Damascus  is  one  of  the  most  populous  and  beautiful 
cities  of  the  East.  It  contains  miles  of  covered  markets 
of  typically  Oriental  character.  There  are  said  to  be 
a  thousand  mosques  and  seventy  Turkish  baths,  though 
I  guarantee  neither  statement  to  be  correct.  The  town 
and  surrounding  countryside  are  intersected  by  numerous 
running  streams,  while  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  are 

39 


40  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


gardens  and  cultivation  extending  for  a  great  distance. 
Fruit  and  flowers  of  all  kinds  attain  great  perfection, 
and  the  dry,  calm  atmosphere  must  be  very  healthy.  In 
summer,  though  the  days  are  hot,  the  nights  are  cool — 
never  sufficiently  warm  to  make  sleeping  on  the  roof 
advisable,  as  is  the  custom  in  Bagdad  and  the  Arabian 
cities.  In  winter  there  is  sometimes  a  heavy  snowfall — 
hence  the  covered  markets.  The  principal  building  is 
the  great  mosque  which  stands  in  the  centre  of  the 
town  and  is,  I  believe,  the  largest  in  the  world.  Prior 
to  the  Moslem  conquest  of  Syria  it  was  a  church.  In 
the  matter  of  monuments  Damascus  is  rather  disappoint¬ 
ing  and  does  not  compare  with  Cairo.  There  are  but 
few  of  interest,  and  the  general  aspect  of  the  houses  is 
mean,  though  the  markets,  where  most  of  the  merchants 
live  and  do  business,  have  a  character  of  their  own. 

As  is  usual  in  the  East  the  town  is  divided  up  into  the 
Mohammedan,  Jewish,  and  Christian  quarters — the  first 
of  course  being  much  the  largest  and  richest.  There  is 
one  tolerably  decent  hotel,  where  Europeans  usually 
stay,  and  many  hostelries  for  visitors  of  Eastern  race. 
In  one  of  the  latter  we  installed  ourselves,  taking  one 
large  room.  This  hotel  had  been  recommended  to  us 
by  one  of  our  companions  in  the  train,  but  as  it  was  by 
no  means  the  best  of  its  sort  and  rather  expensive,  we 
afterwards  changed.  We  took  our  meals  at  various 
cafes.  Food  is  seldom  obtainable  at  hotels  in  these  places. 

It  was  now  the  twentieth  day  of  Ramadan,*  and  as  we 
did  not  propose  to  start  for  Medina  for  about  another 
month,  it  was  worth  while  making  ourselves  comfortable. 
I  felt  that  in  view  of  what  was  before  us  the  time  was 
none  too  long  for  me  to  get  at  home  with  Eastern  life 
to  the  extent  necessary.  It  was  essential  that  I  should 
have  at  my  fingers’  ends  certain  phrases,  quotations,  and 
greetings,  with  the  appropriate  answers  to  them  ;  that 
I  should  be  able  to  go  through  the  various  Moslem  cere¬ 
monies,  in  and  out  of  the  mosque,  without  making 
mistakes,  and  get  so  far  accustomed  to  wearing  and 
arranging  my  clothes,  and  doing  other  things  in  the 


*  Generally  written,  and  sometimes  pronounced,  4 4  Ramazan.”  The 
“  d  ”  represents  the  Arabic  letter  the  pronunciation  of  which  is 

something  like  “  dhw,”  The  emphasis  falls  on  the  last  syllable,  whicli 
is  long :  thus, 


Ramadan. 


33 


DAMASCUS 


41 


conventional  way,  that  I  should  not  in  any  ordinary 
circumstances  be  conspicuous.  It  is  these  multifarious 
customs  and  ceremonies  that  constitute  the  real  ob¬ 
stacle  to  a  European  passing  himself  off  as  a  Mussulman 
born  and  bred — for  they  are  common  to  Islam  the 
world  over,  and  a  bad  mistake  would  emphatically  give 
him  away.  No  matter  how  Eastern  his  appearance 
might  be,  how  carefully  he  might  be  dressed,  and  how 
adept  in  the  language,  if  after  taking  a  bath  some  one 
said  to  him  “  Naiman  ”  and  he  did  not  know  the  answer, 
he  would  stamp  himself  for  an  “  Effrengi  ”  as  surely  as  if 
he  walked  down  the  “street  that  is  called  strait  ”  in  a 
sun  helmet  and  a  spine  pad.  A  bad  mistake  when 
praying,  visiting  a  tomb,  or  even  in  the  responses  during 
a  service,  might  easily  be  fatal.  In  fact  to  pass  success¬ 
fully  for  any  length  of  time,  constant  watchfulness  as 
well  as  previous  practice  is  essential.  It  is  in  these 
matters,  and  not  in  the  language  or  disguise,  that  the 
real  difficulty  is  experienced.  There  are  nearly  as  many 
white  men  at  Mecca  as  there  are  men  black  or  brown  in 
colour.  Syrian  “Arabs”  not  infrequently  have  fair 
hair  and  blue  eyes — as  likewise  have  some  of  the  natives 
of  the  holy  cities  themselves.  I  was  once  asked  what 
colour  I  stained  myself  for  this  journey.  The  question 
reveals  the  curious  ignorance  that  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
the  so-called  race  prejudices  of  which  some  people  are 
so  proud.  You  might  as  well  black  yourself  all  over 
to  play  Hamlet. 

It  must  not  be  concluded,  however,  that  to  travel 
successfully  in  disguise  it  is  necessary  to  be  a  good  actor. 
The  main  thing  is  to  keep  one’s  eyes  open  and  one’s 
mouth  shut.  It  is  wonderful  how  easy  it  is  to  acquire 
foreign  habits  when  one  is  really  living  in  their  atmosphere. 
The  secret,  I  believe,  is  in  playing  a  part  as  little  as 
possible  consciously,  and  in  trying  to  identify  one’s  self 
as  closely  as  may  be  with  the  assumed  character,  in 
private  as  well  as  in  public. 

It  is  not  practicable  to  shut  one’s  self  up  and  avoid 
speaking  to  any  one.  If  travelling  as  a  respectable 
person,  well  dressed,  and  accompanied  by  servants,  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  meeting  and  knowing  people,  and 
to  some  extent  accepting  and  returning  hospitality.  It 


42  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


is  better  to  seek  this  at  the  outset,  after,  of  course,  as 
much  private  study  as  possible,  in  order  more  quickly 
to  become  accustomed  to  social  conditions.  I  myself 
have  been  much  assisted  by  being  naturally  very  shy 
with  a  lot  of  people — which  requires  no  acting  at  all, 
and  is  quite  evidently  unassumed.  This  has  enabled  me 
to  observe  much  and  say  little,  and  no  doubt  has  accounted 
for  those  gaucheries  of  which  I  must  so  often  have  been 
guilty- 

If  the  object  be  simply  to  visit  Mecca,  or  any  other 
place,  in  secret,  I  should  say  the  simplest  way  of  doing 
it  would  be  to  go  disguised  as  a  pauper — with  £5  in  one’s 
pocket,  some  dirty  clothes,  and  nothing  more.  If 
however  the  expedition  is  to  last  any  length  of  time  the 
objections  to  this  are  sufficiently  obvious,  and  so  far  as 
many  interesting  sides  of  life  in  the  country  are  con¬ 
cerned,  the  traveller  would  return  very  little  wiser  than 
he  started.  Most  people  would  prefer  to  amuse  them¬ 
selves  some  other  way. 

I  often  congratulated  myself  on  having  chosen  Damas¬ 
cus  for  our  preliminary  sojourn  and  not  Egypt.  The 
chances  of  detection  would  be  much  greater  there.  The 
people  are  more  inquisitive  and  more  conversant  with 
the  appearance  and  manners  of  Europeans  than  they  are 
in  Asia  Minor.  Also,  as  they  are  dark  in  colour,  I  should 
have  always  appeared  a  stranger  among  them,  whereas 
in  Damascus,  when  wearing  the  local  costume  as  I  some¬ 
times  did,  there  was  nothing  to  distinguish  me  from  the 
people  of  the  country.  Sometimes  I  was  mistaken  for 
a  “  Medanie,”  i.e.  a  native  of  Medina,  a  great  many  of 
whom,  since  the  completion  of  the  railway,  visit  Damascus, 
especially  at  this  season — shortly  before  the  pilgrimage. 

As  we  were  now  no  longer  travelling,  there  remained 
no  excuse  for  not  fasting.  This  fast  of  Ramadan  is  one 
of  the  four  positive  duties  of  Islam  incumbent  on  all 
believers.  The  sacred  law  however  provides  numerous 
exemptions.  You  are  excused  when  travelling  or  en¬ 
gaged  in  war,  and  actually  forbidden  to  fast  if  ill.  The 
Prophet  had  no  sympathy  with  asceticism.  So  far  as 
my  own  observation  has  extended,  this  fast  is  very 
strictly  kept.  I  am  told  that  in  European  Turkey  there 
is  an  increasing  laxity  observable,  but  certainly  in  the 


DAMASCUS  43 

places  we  visited,  in  public  at  any  rate,  it  was  not  dis¬ 
regarded. 

We  were  of  course  very  careful  to  avoid  giving  cause 
for  suspicion  by  failing  to  fulfil  strictly  the  religious 
observances  behoving  us.  Abdul  Wahid,  it  is  true,  used 
to  gorge  himself  with  macaroons  in  the  privacy  of  our 
room  undeterred  by  all  we  said  on  the  subject,  which 
was  a  good  deal.  Even  passages  from  the  religious  works 
I  was  then  studying,  relating  to  the  fate  of  those  who 
thus  defied  the  law,  more  especially  of  those  hypocrites 
who  did  so  secretly,  did  not  avail  to  bring  him  to  a  better 
frame  of  mind.  The  more  we  talked  of  hell  and  damna¬ 
tion  the  more  he  seemed  to  enjoy  the  macaroons. 

I  did  not  find  fasting  any  particular  hardship  :  not 
being  able  to  smoke  was  certainly  the  chief  privation, 
but  as  one  can  do  what  one  likes  after  sundown,  and  I 
used  to  sleep  well  into  the  day,  even  that  did  not  amount 
to  much.  Our  routine  was  somewhat  as  follows.  We 
awoke  about  half -past  nine,  performed  our  ablutions  in 
the  prescribed  manner,  and  read  the  paper  or  books  till 
about  eleven  ;  then  we  usually  went  out.  After  wandering 
about  the  markets  for  an  hour  or  so  we  would  repair  to 
the  great  mosque  to  await  the  noonday  prayer.  Masaudi 
and  I,  Abdul  Wahid  having  gone  off  to  his  lunch,  generally 
remained  in  the  mosque  reading  or  listening  to  lectures 
till  the  afternoon  prayer  at  3.30.  This  concluded,  we 
walked  back  to  our  hotel,  making  purchases  on  the  way — 
cakes,  fruit,  and  so  forth — which  were  to  form  our 
“  breakfast.”  Sundown,  which  begins  the  day  by  Mo¬ 
hammedan  reckoning,  is  saluted  during  this  month  by 
a  salvo  of  artillery.  After  praying  the  evening  prayer, 
which  takes  a  couple  of  minutes,  the  believer  can 
“start  in,”  and  usually  does.  Having  taken  the  edge 
off  our  appetites,  we  would  smoke  a  shisha  (water  pipe) 
outside  a  cafe,  then,  a  couple  of  hours  later,  go  to  some 
restaurant  for  a  more  substantial  meal — then  more 
coffee  and  pipes,  and  later  on  a  Turkish  bath.  Some¬ 
times  we  went  to  entertainments  of  the  Cafe  Chantant 
type  ;  otherwise  there  were  always  plenty  of  bands 
to  listen  to — or  we  might  go  to  some  of  the  quieter  cafes, 
where  story-tellers  or  reading  afforded  more  sober  dis¬ 
tractions.  About  one  o’clock,  or  a  little  later,  we  had 


44  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


another  meal,  eating  as  much  as  possible,  not  because  we 
wanted  it  but  to  see  us  through  the  ensuing  day.  Just 
before  dawn  a  gun  is  fired  as  a  warning,  and  another  a 
few  minutes  later  which  announces  that  the  fast  has 
begun  again. 

Business  in  Damascus  goes  on  as  usual  during  Ramadan. 
In  summer,  when  the  days  are  long  and  hot,  the  depriva¬ 
tion  of  water  must  cause  some  suffering  amongst  the 
workpeople,  but  I  believe  that  a  great  many  who  have 
not  manual  labour  to  do  rather  enjoy  this  month  and  are 
sorry  when  it  is  over.  There  is  more  going  on  at  night 
for  one  thing,  and  it  is  a  season  when  special  luxuries 
are  cooked  in  most  houses,  and  various  delicacies  sold 
in  shops  not  to  be  found  at  other  times.  Then  again 
every  one  feels  that  he  has  a  right  to  be  extravagant. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  we  presented  to  a  local 
merchant  a  letter  of  introduction  that  Abdul  Wahid  had 
brought  from  England.  We  found  his  office  in  one  of 
the  principal  bazaars,  his  business  being  of  the  wholesale 
description.  On  reading  the  letter  he  welcomed  us 
warmly,  inquired  about  ourselves  and  our  intentions,  and 
offered  us  any  assistance  he  could  render.  We  remained 
about  half  an  hour  conversing  with  him,  then,  hearing 
that  we  wanted  to  buy  a  few  things,  he  accompanied  us 
to  several  shops  and  introduced  us  to  their  proprietors. 
So  numerous  and  crowded  are  these  bazaars  that  it  is 
by  no  means  easy  to  find  one’s  way  at  first.  As  is 
customary  in  the  East  each  description  of  trade  has  its 
own  market  or  street.  There  is  for  instance  a  silk 
market,  a  saddle  market,  a  horse  market,  and  so  on. 
Some  of  the  larger  ones  consist  of  more  than  one  street 
and  contain  perhaps  a  hundred  shops.  Nothing  has  a 
fixed  price — it  is  nearly  always  necessary  to  bargain. 
Generally  the  first  offer  comes  from  the  customer.  Abdul 
Wahid  proved  himself  a  great  adept  at  this.  While 
never  giving  a  farthing  more  than  absolutely  necessary, 
he  always  managed  to  keep  the  other  man  in  a  good 
temper.  So  independent  are  these  people  that  at  the 
slightest  hint  of  unpleasantness  they  will  simply  tell 
you  to  go  away  and  buy  your  things  somewhere  else. 
Very  different  are  they  in  this  respect  from  Indian  traders — 
of  whom  there  are  very  few  in  Damascus,  The  latter, 


DAMASCUS 


45 


rather  than  lose  a  customer,  will  put  up  with  all  sorts  of 
abuse,  as  likewise  will  the  Jews.  A  fearful  waste  of  time 
is  engendered  by  this  method  of  doing  business,  but  it 
seems  absolutely  engrained  in  the  people  and  part  of 
the  life  of  the  community,  though  all  admit  its  absurdity 
and  inconvenience. 

The  mosques  of  Damascus,  principal  among  them  the 
Ommava,  have  been  described  so  often  in  their  historical 
and  architectural  aspects  that  I  will  confine  myself  to 
describing  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  actually  used. 
The  idea  that  a  mosque  is  merely  a  Mohammedan  church 
requires  modification. 

It  will  have  been  gathered  from  much  of  the  foregoing 
that  Islam  is  as  much  a  society,  as  a  religion  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  term.  There  are  certain  rules  binding 
on  its  members,  as  in  Freemasonry.  Once  admitted,  none 
may  leave  on  pain  of  death.  There  are  certain  peculiar¬ 
ities  of  dress,  certain  salutations,  and  distinctive  habits, 
by  which  members  may  know  each  other.  Similarly  the 
mosque  is  less  comparable  to  a  church  than  to  a  Masonic 
temple.  It  is  not  considered  improper  to  eat  or  sleep 
in  it,  talk  on  secular  subjects,  or  read  any  books  or  papers 
whatsoever.  It  serves  equally  as  a  refuge  for  homeless 
strangers,  and  a  meeting-place  for  the  people  of  the  town  ; 
while  affording  peace  and  quietness  at  any  time  for  those 
desiring  it,  as  the  utmost  decorum  is  generally  observed. 
Prayers  take  place  five  times  daily,  at  the  appropriate 
hours ;  which  are  dawn,  noonday,  afternoon,  sunset, 
and  some  two  hours  after,  when  it  has  become  quite  dark. 
These  prayers  are  led  by  an  Imam,  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  or  by  any  one  who  happens  to  be  there,  usually 
one  of  the  elder  men  of  the  congregation.  In  large 
mosques  there  are  generally  half-a-dozen  Imams  of  different 
sects,  and  several  sets  of  prayers  take  place  as  sufficient 
people  assemble.  There  is  no  furniture  in  a  mosque — 
only  carpets  and  prayer-mats,  and  a  tank  or  fountain  in 
the  courtyard  for  ablutions.  Women  usually  have  a 
small  mosque  of  their  own  built  on  to  the  larger  one  : 
at  Medina  a  portion  is  railed  off  for  their  exclusive  use  ; 
but  at  Mecca  they  pray  with  the  men,  occupying  one 
whole  side  of  the  quadrangle.  Mosques,  though  of  many 
different  designs,  are  all  alike  in  one  way ;  they  are  built 


46  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


with  their  greatest  length  at  right  angles  to  the  direction 
of  Mecca  or  “  Kibla,”  the  only  exception  being  the 
great  mosque  at  Mecca  itself. 

It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  go  to  the  mosque  to  pray, 
but  it  is  considered  more  blessed  when  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together.  This  may  be  outside  a  cafe,  in  the 
anteroom  of  the  hamam,  on  the  march,  in  camp,  or  any¬ 
where.  Those  present  appoint  an  Imam,  and  assembling 
in  a  line  behind  him,  follow  him  in  his  prostrations 
and  bows.  The  Imam  repeats  the  prayers  aloud  in  the 
morning  and  evening,  at  other  times  to  himself.  I  myself 
have  been  several  times  made  “  Imam”  when  the  hour 
of  prayer  has  arrived  and  no  one  else  looking  more  worthy 
of  the  office  has  been  available. 

The  Muadhin,*  often  a  blind  man,  calls  the  faithful  to 
prayer  at  the  appointed  times  from  the  minaret  of  the 
mosque.  In  a  large  city  with  many  mosques  this  sound 
is  strangely  impressive — especially  at  dawn.  The  man 
employed  in  looking  after  the  books  in  the  mosque  and 
keeping  it  clean  acts  as  Muadhin  in  the  absence  of  any 
one  specially  appointed. 

Every  Friday  there  is  a  special  service  at  noon,  and 
also  on  certain  festivals  in  the  morning.  At  the  Friday 
service  a  sort  of  sermon  is  given  by  a  learned  man  ap¬ 
pointed  for  the  purpose.  This,  which  comes  after  the 
prayer,  is  delivered  from  a  pulpit  facing  the  congre¬ 
gation,  known  as  the  “  Mimba.”  The  address  is  the 
same  everywhere  for  the  particular  month  :  it  is  com¬ 
posed  in  Mecca  and  sent  out  from  there  to  all  parts  of 
the  Mohammedan  world.  After  this  exhortation  comes 
a  long  prayer  for  the  success  of  Islam,  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen,  etc.  It  includes  a  supplication  for  the  long 
life  and  health  of  the  “  Commander  of  the  Faithful  ” — 
at  the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  Abdul  Hamid.  This,  of 
course,  is  omitted  in  Sheia  mosques,  since  they  do  not 
recognize  the  Ottoman  Sultan  as  such.f 

A  rukka  consists  in  a  recitation  of  the  first  sura  J 

*  The“  dh  ”  is  reduplicated  and  bears  the  emphasis  thus  :  “muadh- 
dhin.”  Often  appears  as  “  Muezzin.” 

t  N.B. — All  descriptions  of  religious  ceremonies  apply  to  the  Shafei 
sect  more  especially, 
t  Sura  =  chapter. 


DAMASCUS  47 

of  the  Koran  (which  corresponds  more  or  less  to  the 
Christian’s  44  Lord’s  Prayer  ”)  followed  by  another  sura, 
usually  one  of  the  short  ones  at  the  end.  Then  comes, 
in  the  bowing  position,  an  acknowledgment  of  God’s 
greatness,  and  the  rukka  is  concluded  in  the  sitting  posi¬ 
tion,  by  invoking  a  blessing  on  the  Prophet  and  Islam 
generally,  with  certain  other  supplications.  The  prayers 
consist  of  a  certain  number  of  these  rukkas,*  the  greatest 
number  being  four  and  the  least  two.  At  the  end  comes 
the  telling  of  beads,  of  which  most  people  carry  a  rosary 
containing  ninety-nine,  one  for  each  name  or  attribute 
of  the  Deity,  after  which,  holding  the  hands  palms  up¬ 
ward,  the  Moslem  may  say  his  private  prayers  in  his  own 
language.  A  four-rukka  prayer  takes  about  eight  minutes, 
or  even  more  when  praying  with  an  Imam.  These  five 
daily  prayers  are,  strictly  speaking,  compulsory.  It  is 
not,  however,  absolutely  necessary  to  pray  at  the  hours 
ordained.  If  otherwise  engaged,  prayer  may  be  post¬ 
poned  till  it  is  convenient.  Most  people  pray  when  they 
get  up,  at  noon,  in  the  evening,  which  they  combine  with 
the  afternoon,  and  again  before  going  to  bed. 

Ablutions  are  of  two  kinds,  according  to  the  state  of 
impurity  contracted.  The  greater  necessitates  total  im¬ 
mersion,  the  lesser  the  washing  of  hands,  feet,  and  face — 
this  latter  is  generally  necessary  before  prayer,  and  may 
be  performed  in  the  mosque,  which  nearly  always  contains 
a  tank  for  the  purpose. 

All  these  religious  performances  play  so  large  a  part 
in  Oriental  (Mohammedan)  life  that  a  somewhat  full  de¬ 
scription  of  them  is  really  unavoidable. 

•  •  •  •  • 

The  remainder  of  Ramadan  passed  uneventfully  in 
the  manner  I  have  been  describing.  On  the  last  day, 
however,  a  tumult  arose  in  the  town  which  might  have 
had  serious  consequences.  The  story  of  this  is  worth 
relating,  for  it  throws  a  sidelight  on  the  character  of  the 
people  and  their  government. 

The  cause  of  the  disturbance  was  absurdly  trivial.  A 
man  belonging  to  the  heretical  Wahabi  sect  was  in  the 
great  mosque  while  some  people  were  visiting  the  tomb 
of  the  prophet  Yah-Yah,  who  is  supposed  to  be  buried 

*  Rukka  =  bow. 


48  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


there.  These  “  visitations  ”  consist  in  standing  in  front 
of  the  vault  and  reciting  a  long  salutation  to  the  deceased. 
By  the  Wahabies  they  are  held  to  be  idolatrous.  This 
man  started  to  declaim  against  the  custom,  and  attracted 
a  considerable  audience,  one  of  whom,  a  Meccan  Arab, 
and  a  well-known  “  Aalim  ”  or  learned  man,  put  an  end 
to  the  sermon  by  hitting  the  preacher  on  the  head.  The 
Governor  of  Damascus,  who  happened  to  be  in  the  mosque 
at  the  time,  observing  these  highly  indecorous  proceedings, 
ordered  the  arrest  of  the  Aalim  without  troubling  to 
make  inquiries.  Nothing  further  happened  till  evening, 
when  a  crowd  began  to  collect  in  front  of  the  Government 
offices,  which  were  opposite  our  hotel,  and  overlooked  the 
big  square.  This  was  in  consequence  of  the  afternoon’s 
emeute ,  and  the  object  was  to  procure  the  release  of  the 
prisoner,  on  behalf  of  whom  there  was  much  public  sym¬ 
pathy.  When  first  the  crowd  began  to  assemble,  we 
were  under  the  impression  that  the  new  moon  had  been 
sighted,  which  means  the  end  of  the  fast,  and  is  always  an 
occasion  for  great  rejoicing.  Masaudi  was  ill  in  bed,  but 
Abdul  Wahid  and  I  at  once  sallied  forth  to  see  what 
might  be  going  on,  and  so  got  mixed  up  in  the  crowd 
just  as  the  row  began.  The  mob  broke  open  the  door 
and  rushed  the  building,  from  the  balcony  of  which  a 
stump  orator  proceeded  to  address  them.  The  arrival 
of  several  companies  of  infantry  put  an  end  to  his  speech. 
The  buildings  were  retaken  and  the  intruders  driven  out. 
Attempts  were  made  to  disperse  the  crowd,  which  con¬ 
tinually  increased.  Reinforcements  coming  up  charged 
with  fixed  bayonets,  using,  however,  the  butts  of  their 
rifles  only.  The  people  retaliated  with  sticks,  stones, 
and  anything  else  that  came  handy.  Several  were  in¬ 
jured,  but  no  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  seriously.  The  troops 
threatened  to  fire  ;  but  fortunately  for  us,  refrained. 
At  midnight,  the  whole  place  being  in  an  uproar,  the 
governor  gave  way,  weakly  I  thought,  and  released  the 
prisoner,  who  was  carried  home  in  triumph,  amid  general 
enthusiasm.  We  had  got  rather  roughly  handled  during 
the  scuffle,  in  which  we  had  been  unable  to  avoid  taking 
part.  Early  in  the  proceedings  I  got  a  crack  on  the  left 
shoulder  with  the  business  end  of  a  rifle  that  was  ex¬ 
tremely  painful  at  the  time. 


DAMASCUS 


49 


Walking  home,  we  stopped  to  listen  to  an  elderly  Turkish 
officer  who  was  addressing  a  small  group  of  townspeople. 
“  If,”  he  said,  “  this  is  your  idea  of  liberty,  I  warn  you 
the  constitution  cannot  last,  and  we  shall  lose  what  we 
have  been  at  so  much  pains  to  get.  Before  the  day  of 
freedom  you  would  never  have  dared  to  behave  in  this 
way,  and  to  do  so  now  is  to  show  to  the  whole  world  that 
this  country  is  unsuited  for  free  institutions.”  He  went 
on  to  point  out  that  the  man  would  have  been  released 
the  following  morning,  or  in  any  case  as  soon  as  the  true 
story  of  what  happened  in  the  mosque  was  made  known 
to  the  authorities. 

We  heard  a  great  deal  about  freedom  in  Damascus. 
At  that  time  enthusiasm  for  the  new  regime  was  at  its 
height,  and  my  own  reactionary  views  met  with  no  sym¬ 
pathy  whatever.  The  trouble  in  the  Balkans  was  the 
cause  of  much  indignation  against  Austria.  A  boycott 
of  all  Austrian  goods  was  suggested,  and  in  Constanti¬ 
nople  was  actually  carried  out.  It  is  my  own  opinion 
that  elective  institutions  will  never  be  successful  for  long 
in  the  East,  where  the  character  of  the  people  neces¬ 
sitates  a  strong  ruler,  who  does  not  owe  his  position  to 
their  caprice. 

The  end  of  Ramadan  is  celebrated  by  much  expen¬ 
diture  of  gunpowder  and  other  marks  of  rejoicing. 
Every  one  who  can  afford  to  do  so  wears  new  clothes. 
The  markets  are  closed  and  the  town  presents  the  usual 
bank  holiday  appearance.  The  dress  of  the  Syrians 
is  not  so  picturesque  as  elsewhere  in  the  East.  Most  of 
them  wear  very  wide  cotton  trousers,  a  shirt  reaching 
to  their  knees,  and  a  coloured  silk  gown  which  opens  in 
front  and  folds  across.  Over  this,  in  cold  weather,  some 
wear  a  long  coat  of  European  cut,  others  the  “  jubba,” 
a  typical  Arab  garment,  rather  like  a  dressing-gown,  of 
any  material  and  colour.  On  their  heads  they  wear  a 
tarboosh  (fez)  with  a  silk  cloth  wound  round  it.  Strangers 
usually  dress  as  in  their  own  country,  which  gives  a  gayer 
appearance  to  the  streets — especially  near  the  time  of 
the  pilgrimage,  when  there  are  many  foreigners  visiting 
the  city  prior  to  going  on  to  Medina.  We  found  the 
clothes  we  had  brought  too  chilly  for  this  climate,  and 
so  to  some  extent  adopted  the  local  costume,  only  that 

4 


50  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Abdul  Wahid  would  not  let  me  wear  a  tarboosh,  fearing 
that  I  should  be  mistaken  for  a  Turk — which  for  various 
reasons  he  considered  undesirable.  I  therefore  wore  a 
turban  and  black  jubba,  and  was  hence  generally  credited 
with  coming  from  the  Hedjaz. 

On  the  day  of  the  festival  we  visited  our  friend  the 
merchant,  Abdullah  Waridee,  in  his  house,  which  was 
situated  in  the  suburbs,  and  had  a  very  nice  little  garden 
with  fountains.  The  reception-room  in  Oriental  houses 
is  generally  a  long  passage-like  apartment,  terminating 
in  a  raised  platform  furnished  with  cushions,  on  which 
the  master  of  the  house  and  his  guests  squat  while  the 
retainers  stand  or  sit  in  the  lower  portion  near  the  door. 
We  were  most  hospitably  entertained,  and  stayed,  as 
is  customary,  for  several  hours.  He  returned  our  call  the 
following  day,  and  thenceforward  we  became  very  friendly. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  festival  we  witnessed  the 
departure  of  the  mahmal  for  Mecca.  Prior  to  the  com¬ 
pletion  of  the  railway  the  pilgrim  caravan  used  to  start 
at  this  date.  The  journey  to  Medina  took  forty  days, 
and  meant  hardship  even  to  the  rich,  while  the  poor 
people  who  travelled  on  foot  had  a  very  rough  time. 
The  mahmal  is  an  elaborately  embroidered  camel-litter 
which,  along  with  other  presents  from  the  city,  is  sent 
annually  to  the  shrines  as  a  mark  of  respect.  A  similar 
mahmal  is  sent  from  Egypt,  and  formerly  there  was  one 
from  Bagdad  also,  though  of  late  years  this  has  been 
discontinued  for  some  reason.  A  great  crowd  assembles 
to  see  the  mahmal  off,  and  it  is  escorted  for  some 
distance  by  the  governor  and  principal  dignitaries  en 
grande  tenue.  The  camel  that  has  the  honour  of 
carrying  it  is  of  great  size,  and,  I  believe,  of  the  highest 
breeding. 

A  few  days  after  this  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  two 
brothers,  students  of  Sacred  Law  at  the  College  of  Kerbela, 
who  were  going  on  the  pilgrimage.  They  were  rather 
pleased  to  meet  us,  as  they  knew  no  one  in  Damascus, 
and  we  went  about  a  good  deal  together  during  the  rest 
of  our  stay.  We  stood  them  a  dinner  and  music-hall, 
and  they  drove  us  out  to  the  mosque  where  Zeinab,  the 
Prophet’s  daughter,  is  supposed  (erroneously,  I  believe) 
to  be  buried.  The  drive  was  pleasant  and  gave  us  a 


DAMASCUS 


51 


good  idea  of  the  extraordinary  fertility  of  the  country. 
Arrived  at  the  mosque,  which  is  quite  modern,  we  per¬ 
formed  the  proper  visitation,  which  was  recited  by  the 
elder  of  the  two,  Sheikh  Hassan  by  name,  who  had  a  very 
good  voice.  Then,  as  there  was  no  one  else  present, 
we  sat  in  the  mosque  and  smoked  cigarettes,  which,  by 
the  way,  was  very  wrong  of  us.  We  then  carved  our 
names  on  the  outside — an  abominable  practice  to  which 
Arabs  are  peculiarly  addicted. 

That  evening  we  dined  with  them  at  a  house  they  had 
taken  for  their  stay  in  Damascus — in  which  matter  I 
often  wished  that  we  had  followed  their  example,  instead 
of  going  to  hotels.  It  is  quite  an  error  to  suppose  that 
Eastern  food  is  unpleasant  to  a  European  palate,  or  that 
it  takes  long  to  get  accustomed  to  it.  I  found  it  excellent, 
as  a  rule — the  only  fault  being  that  it  is  generally  rather 
too  highly  spiced.  But  then,  being  more  or  less  teeto¬ 
tallers,  Orientals  are  not  much  troubled  with  “liver.” 

We  had  intended  to  travel  together  to  Medina,  but 
this  fell  through,  owing  to  Sheikh  Hassan  falling  in  love. 
The  object  of  his  affections  was  the  daughter  of  a  local 
merchant,  with  whom  he  at  once  began  negotiations, 
which  there  was  little  prospect  of  concluding  before  the 
pilgrimage,  and  so  they  decided  to  postpone  the  latter. 
I  was  surprised  that  his  brother  put  up  with  this  non¬ 
sense,  and  said  as  much  ;  however,  they  were  quite 
decided,  and  I  daresay  there  was  more  in  it  than  we 
ever  heard  of  to  account  for  their  sudden  change  of  plan. 
«■•••• 

About  this  time  we  were  compelled  to  change  our 
hotel,  as  the  one  we  were  in  was  to  be  pulled  down.  We 
moved  into  another,  but  only  stayed  one  night,  for 
good  and  sufficient  reasons.  I  still  want  to  scratch  when 
I  think  of  it.  Our  third  venture  was  more  successful, 
though  we  had  to  pay  slightly  more  than  I  had  intended. 
The  room  we  got  was  however  fairly  comfortable  and 
quite  clean. 

It  was  while  staying  here  that  we  nearly  got  let  in  for 
a  most  undesirable  addition  to  the  party.  Abdul  Wahid 
one  day  was  accosted  on  the  stairs  by  a  middle-aged 
woman  who  told  him  she  had  come  from  Aleppo  with  her 
two  daughters,  and  was  on  the  pilgrimage.  They  were 


52  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


occupying  the  room  below  our  own  in  the  hotel,  and  had 
heard  that  we  were  likewise  bound  for  the  Hedjaz.  As 
they  had  no  man  with  them — might  they  travel  with 
us  as  far  as  Medina  ?  Abdul  Wahid  was,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  sufficiently  unscrupulous  to  say  that  he  would  be 
delighted,  but  as  a  matter  of  form  he  would  have  to 
consult  me  first.  His  heart  failing  him,  however,  he 
said  nothing  to  me  about  it.  The  next  day  I  was  caught 
in  the  same  way  and,  panic-stricken,  said  exactly  the  same 
thing  about  him.  “  Oh,”  she  said,  “  your  friend  is  quite 
willing,  he  told  us  so.  He  is  only  waiting  for  your 
consent.”  I  escaped  upstairs  and  sternly  commanded 
Abdul  Wahid  to  go  down  at  once  and  get  us  out  of  it 
somehow.  I  reminded  him  of  what  had  happened  to 
Ananias  in  this  very  city,  and  assured  him  that  if  he  tried 
to  shovel  it  on  to  me  again  that  person’s  fate  would  be 
enviable  compared  to  his  own  unpleasant  end.  Masaudi 
also  expressed  astonishment  at  his  hardihood.  Abdul 
Wahid  accordingly  descended  in  some  trepidation  whilst 
we  tip-toed  to  the  edge  of  the  bannisters  to  hear  what 
he  would  say.  He  began  by  expressing  great  regret 
that  he  would  be  deprived  of  the  pleasure  to  which  he 
had  so  much  looked  forward,  but,  alas !  there  was  a 
third  member  of  the  party,  a  very  learned  and  holy  man, 
who  could  not  bring  himself  to  travel  with  women  except 
those  belonging  to  his  own  household.  This  was  received 
with  yells  of  laughter,  from  which  I  gathered  that  they 
had  already  seen  Masaudi  and  tumbled  to  the  true  state 
of  the  case.  Abdul  Wahid  returned  discomfited  to  con¬ 
front  Masaudi,  who  in  turn  was  now  very  angry.  We 
finally  agreed  that  neither  honesty  nor  common  decency 
could  reasonably  be  expected  from  a  man  who  gorged 
himself  with  sweets  in  Ramadan.  The  next  time  we 
met  the  ladies  Masaudi  told  them  that  Abdul  Wahid’s 
reputation  was  so  bad  that  it  was  as  much  as  any  woman’s 
character  was  worth  to  be  seen  talking  to  him. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  were  in  no  position  to  help 
them,  much  as  we  might  have  liked  to  do  so.  Nor  would 
it  have  been  fair  to  risk  involving  them  in  the  disaster 
which  must  ensue  should  I  be  discovered.  But  I  fear 
our  refusal  seemed  to  them  rather  unkind. 


DAMASCUS 


53 


The  time  for  our  departure  was  now  drawing  near, 
and  we  began  to  make  preparations  for  the  journey.  We 
bought  the  “  Ihram  ”  or  white  robes  that  we  should 
require  when  entering  Mecca  and  during  the  three  days 
of  the  actual  pilgrimage.  We  also  bought  the  tent,  mats, 
and  saddle-bags  which  would  constitute  our  camp 
equipment,  knives,  forks,  plates,  and  what  cooking  utensils 
we  required ;  not  forgetting  water  pipes  and  a  good  supply 
of  tea  and  tobacco.  These  things  can  be  bought  much 
more  cheaply  in  Damascus  than  in  Medina.  I  deposited 
my  money,  now  reduced  to  £200,  with  our  friend  Abdullah, 
who  gave  me  two  cheques,  one  on  his  agent  at  Medina, 
the  other  on  Mecca.  In  neither  place  are  there  any  banks. 

We  had  intended  to  start  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  month, 
but  had  to  postpone  our  departure  till  the  eighteenth 
owing  to  the  trains  being  full  up  with  troops  sent  to 
reinforce  the  garrison  at  Medina,  which  was  reported  to 
be  hard  pressed.  Trouble  that  had  arisen  with  the 
Bedou  tribes  during  the  Ramadan  festival  had  swelled 
into  a  respectable  war.  Wild  and  improbable  rumours 
about  the  desperate  nature  of  the  fighting  were  daily 
circulating  in  the  town  ;  but  as  the  papers  were  not  allowed 
to  give  details,  even  if  they  knew  any,  and  the  officials 
were  not  communicative,  it  was  difficult  to  get  at  the 
truth.  All  that  seemed  certain  was  that  the  Government 
troops  had  sustained  a  considerable  defeat  at  the  outset, 
and  that  the  city  was  in  a  state  of  siege.  This  was  good 
news  for  me,  because  I  felt  sure  that  it  would  make  my 
journey  easier  in  many  ways.  In  time  of  war  and 
commotion,  when  people  have  much  to  occupy  their 
minds,  they  are  less  apt  to  be  inquisitive.  Moreover, 
I  am  never  averse  to  being  where  anything  interesting 
is  taking  place,  and  consequently  I  was  all  anxiety  to  be 
off  to  the  scene  of  action. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  HEDJAZ  BAILWAY 

The  Hedjaz  railway  station  is  situated  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  town  some  little  distance  out.  It  took  us  over 
an  hour  to  drive  there  from  our  hotel.  The  train  was 
due  to  start  at  eleven  in  the  morning — European  time — 
but  we  were  warned  not  to  be  later  than  nine,  as  it  was 
expected  to  be  very  crowded.  There  are  two  classes, 
first  and  third.  Seeing  that  the  journey  was  to  take  four 
days  at  the  least,  and  we  were  fairly  affluent,  I  was  strongly 
tempted  to  travel  first  class,  especially  as  the  difference 
did  not  amount  to  very  much.  Our  Damascus  friends 
however  strongly  opposed  this  extravagance.  They  said 
that  even  the  “very  best  people  5 5  went  third,  and  that 
it  was  nearly  as  comfortable.  I  gave  up  the  idea  when 
I  found  that  it  would  probably  involve  their  putting  on 
a  special  carriage  for  me,  for  I  naturally  wished  to  make 
myself  as  inconspicuous  as  possible  on  arriving.  I  was 
thankful  afterwards  that  I  allowed  myself  to  be  per¬ 
suaded.  Our  entry  into  Medina  was  quite  sufficiently 
sensational  as  it  was. 

We  got  to  the  station  in  good  time  and  secured  our 
places,  which  we  left  Masaudi  to  guard  while  we  took  the 
tickets  and  registered  the  luggage.  The  tickets  cost  £3  10s. 
each,  not  a  great  deal  for  a  journey  of  over  a  thousand 
miles.  As  we  had  still  two  hours  and  a  half  to  wait,  we 
adjourned  to  a  small  cafe  with  our  friend  Abdullah,  who 
had  come  to  see  us  off.  Later  I  walked  back  with  him 
some  distance  towards  the  town,  which  opportunity  he 
took  to  bestow  upon  me  some  excellent  advice.  “  Re¬ 
member,”  he  said,  “  that  the  people  of  the  Hedjaz  are 
not  civilized  as  they  are  here,  and  do  not  quarrel,  or  you 
will  get  into  trouble.  They  are  accustomed  to  make 
money  out  of  the  pilgrims,  so  do  not  be  cheated,  yet  do 
not  accuse  them  lightly  of  trying  to  rob  you.  Do  not 
spend  too  much  money  at  the  beginning,  as  you  may 

54 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY  55 

want  it  all.  If  yon  are  attacked  in  the  train,  or  with  the 
caravan,  by  overwhelming  numbers,  do  not  try  to  fight  ; 
give  up  your  things  quietly,  and  no  harm  will  befall 
you.”  He  further  admonished  me  to  be  punctual  in 
the  performance  of  prayer  while  on  the  pilgrimage, 
whatever  I  might  be  at  other  times,  and  to  give  some 
small  sum  in  charity  before  starting.  I  further  had  to 
promise  to  pray  a  prayer  of  two  rukkas  on  his  behalf  in 
the  Prophet’s  mosque  at  Medina.  At  parting  he  em¬ 
braced  me  affectionately  in  the  objectionable  manner 
customary  everywhere  but  in  England. 

On  returning  to  the  train  I  found  all  confusion.  The 
carriages  consisted  of  plain  wooden  benches  with  a 
passage  down  the  middle.  These  were  in  pairs  facing 
one  another  with  just  room  for  two  to  sit  on  each.  We 
had  reserved  four  of  them,  but  other  passengers  turning 
up  had  forcibly  removed  our  things  from  two  in  spite  of 
Masaudi’s  protests.  Our  carriage  was  now  absolutely 
crammed,  as  likewise  were  all  the  others.  There  was  no 
room  for  anything,  and  we  were  jammed  up  together 
with  our  belongings  in  a  most  uncomfortable  way. 
Although  we  had  still  an  hour  to  wait,  we  did  not  dare 
to  leave  again,  and  sat  in  our  places  waiting  for  the  train 
to  start.  As  it  was,  many  people  arriving  late  were 
turned  away  for  want  of  room.  When,  much  to  our 
relief,  we  did  start,  we  were  half  an  hour  late. 

Among  those  in  our  compartment  were  several  Turkish 
officers  in  uniform,  some  Syrian  pilgrims,  and  some  very 
dirty  Moroccans.  Next  to  us  on  the  other  side  of  the 
carriage  were  two  Turks,  father  and  son,  whose  only 
luggage  appeared  to  consist  of  a  gramophone.  This 
ubiquitous  instrument  is  very  popular  in  the  Hedjaz, 
and  many  Arabic  records  for  it  are  now  to  be  obtained — ■ 
among  them  even  passages  from  the  Koran  !  I  have 
never  lost  an  opportunity  of  pointing  out  the  impropriety 
of  this,  having  always  entertained  a  strong  objection  to 
this  invention  of  the  Evil  One. 

We  travelled  through  open  cultivated  country  till 
night  fell.  The  Gebel-esh-sheikh,  a  fine  peak  overlooking 
Damascus,  well  above  the  snow-line,  was  still  visible 
the  following  morning.  In  the  course  of  the  first  day 
W©  passed  several  large  stations,  but  by  the  morning 


56  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


of  the  second  we  had  entered  the  desert  and  thence¬ 
forward  few  habitations  were  visible.  The  soil  was 
brown  and  dry,  with  scanty  herbage,  which  thinned  out 
more  and  more  as  the  train  passed  on  to  the  south.  We 
had  brought  what  food  we  required — mostly  hard-boiled 
eggs,  bread,  and  cakes,  but  what  with  the  dust  and 
the  stuffy  atmosphere  we  could  hardly  eat  anything. 
Through  the  night  we  dozed  at  intervals,  but  sleep  in 
our  constrained  position  was  difficult.  The  second  day 
I  had  a  bout  of  malarial  fever,  which  lasted  till  we  got  to 
Medina  and  did  not  enhance  my  enjoyment  of  the  journey. 
The  kindness  of  our  fellow-passengers  in  this  emergency 
was  remarkable.  Seeing  that  I  was  ill,  they  insisted  on 
crowding  together  so  that  I  could  have  room  to  lie  down, 
as  often  as  I  would  permit  them  to  do  so.  The  Turkish 
officers,  who  had  a  small  charcoal  brazier,  cooked  things  for 
me  when  possible,  and  gave  me  fruit,  of  which  we  had  fool¬ 
ishly  lost  our  own  supply.  We  were  able  to  repay  them 
for  this  in  some  measure,  as  we  had  a  “  Primus  ”  stove 
which  made  tea  in  a  few  minutes  whenever  any  one  wanted 
any* 

There  was  a  small  closed  compartment  at  the  end  of 
the  corridor  that  was  occupied  by  an  elderly  Turk  with  his 
son,  wife,  and  two  daughters.  I  was  sorry  for  the  latter, 
for  they  were  the  only  women  on  the  train.  They  spent 
most  of  the  time  intoning  what  is  known  as  the  “  Maulid,” 
a  poetical  work  describing  the  birth  of  the  Prophet. 

On  the  third  day  we  arrived  at  a  station  at  nine  in  the 
morning  and  did  not  leave  till  five  in  the  afternoon.  This 
was  owing  to  the  engine  driver,  who  should  have  taken 
us  on,  not  being  there  for  some  reason.  Our  own  driver 
said  he  was  dead  tired  and  must  have  a  sleep.  As  we 
heard  that  the  track  ahead  was  in  a  very  dangerous 
condition  we  made  few  protests,  and  in  fact  were  only 
too  glad  to  get  out  and  stretch  our  legs.  This  station, 
like  most  of  them,  consisted  merely  of  a  couple  of  tin 
huts  and  a  tank.  We  soon  had  to  take  refuge  in  our 
carriage  from  the  heat  of  the  sun.  The  reddish  sand  of 
the  Arabian  and  Syrian  deserts  is  not,  however,  nearly 
so  trying  to  the  eyes  in  bright  sunlight  as  that  of  Egypt — 
nor  does  the  country,  being  generally  hilly,  give  the 
same  idea  of  desolation  as  the  Sahara. 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY 


57 


The  engine  driver  being  at  last  sufficiently  refreshed, 
we  started  again.  Another  long  night  passed,  and  we 
were  traversing  a  country  broken  up  into  fantastically 
shaped  hills  and  covered  with  huge  boulders  of  weird 
forms.  Some  stood  straight  up  on  end  like  huge  Cleopa¬ 
tra’s  Needles.  Others  reminded  me  of  Stonehenge, 
and  for  about  an  hour  we  passed  through  a  plain 
covered  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  with  rocks  nearly 
resembling  the  “toad  rock”  at  Tunbridge  Wells.  We 
were  now  in  Arabia,  and  as  we  proceeded  the  aspect 
of  the  country  became  ever  wilder.  High  mountain 
ranges  appeared  on  either  side,  and  the  great  pinnacles 
of  rock  became  more  twisted  and  uncanny  in  appearance. 
The  track  wound  through  gloomy  gorges  over  which 
huge  rocks  hung  menacingly.  About  midday  we  reached 
Medain  Salih.  This  is  the  boundary  of  the  Iiedjaz 
province,  and  beyond  it  no  one,  not  being  a  Mohammedan, 
is  allowed  to  pass.  When  the  railway  was  being  built 
all  the  European  engineers  were  discharged  at  this  point 
and  the  work  was  carried  on  entirely  by  Turks  and 
Arabs.  This  place,  which  itself  is  simply  a  couple  of 
tin  shanties,  is  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  rock 
dwellings,  which  from  time  immemorial  have  excited  the 
wonder  of  travellers.  These  have  been  well  described 
by  the  Arabian  explorer  Doughty  and  several  others. 
The  huge  isolated  boulders  which  cover  the  country  are 
here  hollowed  out  and  fashioned  into  caves  with  doors, 
very  much  like  the  rock  temples  of  Abu  Simbel  in  Upper 
Nubia.  I  was  unable  to  examine  them  closely,  but  there 
are  hundreds  of  them,  and  they  appear  to  be  beautifully 
made.  According  to  the  Arabian  story,  this  place 
as  its  name  implies,  was  the  town  where  dwelt  the 
prophet  Salih.  As  related  in  the  Koran,  the  people  of 
these  cities  being  hard  of  heart  and  refusing  to 
listen  to  his  preaching,  beside  killing  his  miraculous 
camel,  were  finally  overwhelmed  by  a  convulsion  of 
nature  like  that  which  destroyed  the  Cities  of  the 
Plain  on  the  occasion  when  Lot’s  wife  came  to 
such  an  untimely  end.  “  The  earthquake  overtook 
them  and  the  morning  found  them  lying  dead  in  their 
city.”  * 

*  Koran,  chap.  vii. 


58  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


In  the  afternoon  of  this  the  third  day  we  reached  a  good- 
sized  village  surrounded  by  date  palms — the  first  habita¬ 
tions  we  had  seen  since  leaving  Syria.  Here  we  stayed  for 
an  hour  and  were  able  to  replenish  our  provisions  and  get 
some  coffee.  All  the  stations  south  of  Medain  Salih 
are  fortified  with  trenches  and  barbed  wire,  and  the 
whole  scene  reminds  one  of  South  Africa  at  the  time  of  the 
war.  There  was  fighting  all  along  here  while  the  railway 
was  in  course  of  construction,  and  the  posts  are  still 
occasionally  attacked  by  wandering  tribes.  We  passed 
several  wrecked  engines  that  had  run  off  the  track  owing 
to  it  not  having  been  properly  laid,  and  we  were  obliged 
to  proceed  very  carefully.  We  were  told  that  it  was  by  no 
means  unlikely  that  we  should  be  attacked  between  this 
place  and  Medina — not  by  the  belligerent  tribes,  but  by 
bands  of  marauders  whose  object  was  merely  robbery.  We 
therefore  looked  to  our  weapons  on  re-starting.  We  were 
due  to  arrive  at  Medina  at  noon  the  next  day — Sunday. 

Nothing  happened  during  the  night,  and  we  were  all 
much  cheered  by  the  reflection  that  it  was  the  last  we 
had  to  spend  in  that  accursed  train.  I  was  also  feeling 
much  better,  in  spite,  or  perhaps  because,  of  having  had 
no  medicine  whatever.  We  were  somewhat  delayed, 
and  it  was  not  till  one  o’clock  that  the  dull  thudding  of 
distant  artillery  fire  told  us  that  we  were  approaching 
our  destination.  The  stations  were  now  protected  by 
considerable  earthworks  and  had  garrisons  of  a  company 
or  more.  I  did  not  particularly  admire  either  the  con¬ 
struction  of  these  defences  or  the  sites  chosen  for  them. 
A  little  later,  through  a  gap  in  the  hills,  there  appeared 
the  needle-like  minarets  of  the  Prophet’s  mosque — then, 
as  we  emerged  on  to  the  plain,  the  city  itself.  One  of  our 
Turkish  friends,  standing  with  me  on  the  footboard, 
pointed  out  several  places  with  familiar  names — the 
Mountain  of  Uhud,  where  the  forces  of  the  Prophet 
were  defeated  by  the  Koreish,  the  tomb  of  his  uncle 
Hamza,  and  the  different  gates.  As  we  drew  nearer  the 
rattle  of  musketry  fire  became  audible,  and  as  we  steamed 
into  the  station  I  half  expected  to  find  a  hand-to-hand 
conflict  going  on  outside  the  booking  office.  The  fighting 
however  for  the  moment  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
town,  and  the  station  was  not  under  fire.  That  morning 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY 


59 


however  it  had  been,  and  consequently  the  crowd  that 
usually  assembles  to  see  the  train  come  in  was  absent — 
very  fortunately  for  me  as  it  turned  out. 

•  •  •  •  • 

Another  digression  is  necessary  here  to  explain  the 
causes  and  conduct  of  this  little  war,  and  how  we  came 
to  pass  in  as  we  did,  unmolested  by  the  besiegers. 

This  part  of  Arabia  being  theoretically  a  province  of 
Turkey,  the  Arab  tribes  inhabiting  it  are  nominally 
Turkish  subjects.  Turkey  being  the  most  powerful 
Mohammedan  country  of  the  present  day,  her  ruler  claims 
the  title  of  “  Commander  of  the  Faithful,”  and  on  him 
devolves  the  guardianship  of  the  sacred  cities,  and  the 
maintenance  of  order  there.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how¬ 
ever,  apart  from  occupying  Mecca  and  Medina  and  the 
coast  ports,  Turkey  has  little  real  authority  in  the  Hedjaz. 
The  Bedou  remain,  what  they  always  have  been,  inde¬ 
pendent  tribes,  each  community  having  its  own  country, 
rulers,  laws,  and  customs.  They  are  an  intensely  aristo¬ 
cratic  race,  setting  great  store  by  genealogy  and  noble 
descent  ;  they  despise  the  rest  of  the  world,  not  ex¬ 
cepting  the  so-called  Arabs  of  the  towns,  who  are  usually 
of  mixed  blood,  or  the  other  Arabic -speaking  peoples, 
such  as  the  Egyptians  and  Syrians.  It  is  certain  that 
few  other  races  can  boast  such  pure  breeding  as  the 
Arabs,  or  more  honourable  traditions.  The  best  families 
have  done  no  manual  labour  except  fighting  and  brigan¬ 
dage  since  the  creation  of  Adam. 

These  Arabs,  known  generically  as  the  “  Bedou,”  live 
in  the  desert ;  that  is  to  say  their  country  is  dry  and  arid 
generally,  though  fertile  spots  occur.  They  build  no 
towns,  but  move  from  place  to  place.  They  despise  all 
civilized  customs  and  appliances — even  houses.  Their 
food  is  of  the  simplest,  their  dress  a  single  cotton  gown. 
Their  favourite  pursuit  is  war  in  some  good  cause,  or 
failing  that  robbery.  They  are  excellent  horsemen  and 
camel  masters,  very  hardy,  daring,  and  resourceful.  In 
character,  though  brave,  generous,  and  hospitable,  they  are 
treacherous  and  consider  things  allowable  in  war  that  are 
decidedly  not  “  cricket.”  They  are  by  no  means  fanatically 
religious,  contrary  to  the  received  idea  ;  they  neither  fast 
nor  pray,  and  in  reality  are  only  nominal  Mohammedans. 


60  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


The  pilgrims  consider  them  savages  and  have  good 
reason  to  hate  and  fear  them  ;  so  also  have  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Arabian  towns. 

For  many  years  past  the  Turks  have  found  it  less 
trouble  to  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  the  sheikhs 
of  the  Bedou  tribes  through  whose  country  the  pilgrim 
caravans  have  to  pass,  in  return  for  immunity  from 
attack,  rather  than  to  send  large  escorts  with  them. 
Though  it  may  well  be  considered  undignified  for  a 
civilized  Government  to  submit  to  such  extortions  in 
their  own  country,  there  is  really  no  help  for  it.  To 
occupy  and  police  Arabia  in  such  a  manner  as  would 
make  it  a  safe  country  for  travellers,  would  be  at  present 
about  as  practicable  an  undertaking  as  an  invasion  of 
the  moon.  Neither  the  Turks  nor  any  one  else  can  hope 
to  accomplish  it.  The  character  of  the  country,  difficulty 
of  transport,  and  scarcity  of  water  would  effectually 
settle  a  European  army,  and  the  Bedou  themselves  are 
much  more  formidable  opponents  than  the  half-armed 
savages  we  destroyed  in  such  numbers  at  Omdurman. 
They  are  well  armed  with  modern  rifles  (a  good  pro¬ 
portion  being  small  bores),  and,  judging  by  the  amount 
of  firing  at  long  ranges  round  Medina,  they  have  little 
trouble  in  obtaining  ammunition.  In  fact,  so  far  as  I 
could  see,  no  attempt  is  made  to  prevent  traffic  in  either 
rifles  or  cartridges  ;  they  are  sold  in  the  open  market 
both  in  Mecca  and  Medina. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  guess  at  the  number 
of  Bedou  Arabs  in  Arabia — seeing  that  three -fourths  of 
it  is  unknown.  But  I  have  been  told  that  the  Hedjaz 
tribes  alone,  were  they  to  combine,  could  put  nearly 
100,000  men  in  the  field. 

With  the  completion  of  the  Hedjaz  railway  *  the 
Turkish  Government  made  a  precipitate  and,  in  the 
circumstances,  an  ill-advised  attempt  to  stop  further 
payment  of  tribute  for  safe  conduct  to  the  tribes  en 

*  The  deposed  Sultan,  Abdul  Hamid,  was  mainly  responsible  for 
this  work.  Subscriptions  in  aid  of  it  were  raised  throughout  the  whole 
Moslem  world.  The  railway  reached  Medina  in  the  year  I  went  there — 
1908.  It  is  proposed  to  carry  it  on  to  Mecca  ;  but  there  seems  little 
prospect  of  this  being  accomplished  for  some  time  to  come.  The 
object  in  building  it  was  in  part  to  render  the  pilgrimage  safer  and 
easier,  and  in  part  strategical. 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY 


61 


route.  This  as  a  matter  of  fact  did  not  amount  to 
very  much,  as  the  part  between  Syria  and  Medina  never 
gave  the  caravans  any  great  trouble.  The  news  however 
spread  through  Arabia  and  alarmed  the  more  important 
tribes  between  Medina  and  Mecca,  and  Medina  and 
Yembu.  If  they  were  not  allowed  to  plunder  and  not 
paid  to  refrain  from  doing  so — they  would  evidently 
be  in  a  bad  way. 

When  the  first  train  arrived  it  was  the  subject  of  much 
curiosity.  At  first  they  did  not  realize  its  significance. 
“  Can  this  thing,”  they  asked,  “  carry  as  much  as  a 
camel  1  ”  When,  a  few  days  later,  they  saw  it  dis¬ 
gorging  hundreds  of  men  and  tons  of  baggage,  they 
began  to  realize  that  something  new  had  come  into  their 
very  conservative  country  and  to  resent  it  accordingly. 
It  was  fairly  obvious  that  this  would  soon  make  camel¬ 
travelling  a  thing  of  the  past  ;  and  with  it  all  their 
profits  derived  from  the  hiring-out  of  the  camels,  and  the 
tribute  they  had  for  so  long  extorted.  Further,  they 
observed  with  consternation  that  the  train  was  by  no 
means  so  easy  to  “  stick  up  ”  as  they  had  imagined  it 
would  be,  and  on  hearing  that  it  came  all  the  way 
from  Syria  in  four  days,  their  amazement  passed  all 
bounds. 

During  the  ensuing  two  months  their  sheikhs  no  doubt 
held  many  anxious  consultations.  Deputations  waited 
on  the  governor  of  Medina  to  protest  against  the  railway 
on  the  ground  that  it  would  bring  Europeans  into  the 
country.  The  governor  was  authorized  to  promise  them 
on  the  word  of  the  Caliph  himself  that  this  should  not 
happen.  It  was  pointed  out  to  them  that  arrivals  by 
train  could  be  scrutinized  much  more  easily  than  formerly, 
in  the  days  of  caravans. 

The  one  idea  of  the  Bedou  was  to  stop  the  railway 
going  any  farther.  But  it  was  not  at  all  easy  for 
them  to  find  a  pretext  on  which  they  could  reasonably 
object.  The  railway  had  been  built  and  was  to  be 
continued  by  subscription  throughout  the  whole  of  Islam. 
Enthusiasm  for  it  ran  high  ;  it  was  regarded  as  a  grand 
and  patriotic  undertaking  and  a  triumphant  refutation 
of  the  charge  that  the  Moslem  religion  is  decadent  or 
lacking  in  vitality.  It  had  received  the  blessing  of  the 


62  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


religious  heads  of  all  sects,  and  rich  and  poor  alike  had 
contributed  their  share  with  equal  generosity. 

The  best  thing  to  do,  it  seemed  to  the  Bedou,  was  to 
pick  a  quarrel  on  some  other  grounds  and  make  things 
so  hot  for  the  Turks  that  for  a  time  at  any  rate  they 
would  have  something  better  to  do  than  build  railways. 
Opportunities  for  doing  so  were  not  wanting.  Four  miles 
East  of  Medina  is  situated  the  tomb  of  the  uncle  of  Mo¬ 
hammed,  Hamza,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Uhud  ;  a  place 
of  pious  visitation  by  all  pilgrims.  The  “  Benee  Ali  ” 
(sons  of  Ali),  a  large  and  important  tribe  living  and 
cultivating  round  the  city,  were  charged  with  the  policing 
of  this  road,  and  paid  for  doing  so.  At  the  end  of  Rama¬ 
dan  two  men  returning  late  at  night  were  killed,  presum¬ 
ably  by  robbers.  The  governor  sent  a  protest  to  the  chiefs 
of  the  tribe  and  demanded  payment  of  a  fine.  The  effect 
of  the  answer  he  received  was  that  they  could  no  longer 
be  responsible  for  the  road  and  were  not  going  to  pay 
anything.  Some  further  negotiations  took  place,  but 
their  demeanour  was  so  truculent  that  it  became  obvious 
that  they  were  “  out  for  a  row.”  On  the  3rd  of  Shawal  * 
a  force  of  about  1,000  men  with  a  Maxim  was  sent  to 
disperse  a  large  body  of  tribesmen  that  had  assembled, 
and  was  threatening  the  town.  The  Turks,  supported 
by  artillery  fire  from  the  walls,  advanced  boldly  through 
the  date  plantations.  Before  long  however  they  were 
completely  outflanked  by  their  more  mobile  enemy, 
and  subjected  to  a  galling  fire  from  all  sides.  On  their 
attempting  to  retreat  the  Bedou  charged  in  their 
usual  impetuous  manner,  captured  the  Maxim,  killed  a 
hundred  men,  and  drove  the  rest  back  into  the  town 
in  the  wildest  confusion.  Since  that  day  there  had  been 
several  engagements  on  a  small  scale,  but  no  serious 
fighting.  The  Turks  had  abandoned  everything  but  the 
town  itself  and  two  forts  lying  outside  the  walls  which 
were  strongly  garrisoned.  Reinforcements  from  Turkey 
and  Syria  were  hurried  forward,  and  included  several 
batteries  of  artillery,  which  were  distributed  along  the  wall. 

The  Benee  Ali  on  their  side  proclaimed  a  sort  of  holy 
war  against  the  Turks,  and  invited  all  Arabia  to  assist 
them.  They  said  they  would  not  harm  or  interfere  with 

*  The  month  after  Ramadan. 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY 


63 


the  pilgrims,  who  should  be  free  to  come  and  go  as  usual, 
and  to  pass  through  their  lines.  Their  quarrel  was  with 
the  Government  and  the  Government  alone. 

The  assistance  they  asked  for  was  soon  forthcoming  ; 
fresh  levies  kept  arriving  from  all  quarters.  For  once 
in  a  way  the  tribes  seemed  in  perfect  agreement. 

At  the  time  of  our  arrival  the  Turkish  troops  in  Medina 
may  have  mustered  10,000,  with  twenty  guns  ;  the  Arabs 
upwards  of  20,000,  and  were  daily  increasing. 

Medina  is  situated  in  an  open  plain  at  an  altitude  of 
about  3,000  feet  above  sea-level.  On  three  sides  the  plain 
is  bounded  by  mountains,  from  five  to  ten  miles  distant 
from  the  town,  but  to  the  south  the  country  is  open. 
The  city  itself  in  shape  is  roughly  an  oval,  measuring  about 
a  mile  at  its  greater  diameter.  It  really  consists  of 
two  towns  joined  together.  The  older  one,  which  has 
a  separate  wall,  contains  the  mosque  and  most  of  the 
dwelling  houses  and  shops  ;  the  other  is  the  more  modern 
part,  in  which  are  situated  most  of  the  public  buildings, 
markets,  and  barracks.  It  includes  a  large  open  space 
in  which  caravans  assemble  on  arrival  or  before  start¬ 
ing.  A  smaller  wall  has  been  built  on  to  the  other 
to  protect  this  quarter.  There  are  several  gates,  which 
are  named  after  the  places  to  which  the  roads  issuing 
from  them  lead :  one,  for  instance,  is  called  the  Bab-esh- 
Sham  or  Syrian  gate,  another  the  Mecca  gate,  and  so  on. 
Water  is  supplied  by  a  number  of  wells,  and  is  plentiful 
and  good  in  quality.  There  are  date  plantations  and 
other  cultivation  almost  completely  surrounding  the 
town,  and  extending  for  several  miles.  The  railway 
station  lies  to  the  west  of  the  town,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  outer  wall.  At  the  time  I  was  there  it 
was  not  completed,  but  some  substantial  stone  buildings 
were  then  in  course  of  erection,  which,  by  the  way,  being 
quite  bullet-proof,  proved  very  useful  during  the  fighting. 
The  cemetery  known  as  the  Bakeia  is  on  the  south  side, 
abutting  on  to  the  wall.  Here  are  buried  many  of  the 
most  famous  men  in  the  history  of  Islam,  including  several 
relations  of  the  Prophet.  During  my  stay  it  was  almost 
constantly  under  fire. 

I  should  put  the  normal  population  of  Medina,  apart 
from  troops  and  pilgrims,  at  30,000  all  told.  Their 


64  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


occupations  are  almost  all  in  connection  with  the  pilgrims, 
on  whom  they  subsist  almost  entirely.  They  work  hard 
for  the  three  months  of  the  pilgrim  season,  and  do  nothing 
the  rest  of  the  year.  There  is  a  place  for  every  one  in 
the  system.  The  wealthier  classes  own  houses  which 
they  let  for  large  sums.  The  younger  men  are  mostly 
employed  as  guides,  and  are  often  very  generously  re¬ 
warded  for  their  services.  The  shopkeepers  of  course  do 
a  roaring  trade,  and  every  one,  down  to  the  porters  and 
water-carriers,  makes  a  good  thing  out  of  the  visitors. 

These  guides,  known  as  “  Mutowifeen  ”  (sing.  Mutowif), 
gave  me  great  trouble  on  entering  both  Medina  and 
Mecca.  Their  business  is  to  take  charge  of  every  pilgrim 
wealthy  enough  to  afford  the  luxury,  look  after  him 
during  his  stay,  show  him  the  places  of  interest,  and  recite 
for  him  the  appropriate  prayers  and  salutations  before 
the  various  tombs,  etc.  The  name  is  derived  from  the 
ceremony  of  walking  round  the  Kaaba  at  Mecca,  which 
is  known  as  “  towaf  ”  *  (as  nearly  as  the  word  can  be 
represented  by  the  Roman  characters).  For  these 
services  there  is  no  fixed  tariff — their  remuneration  de¬ 
pends  on  the  generosity  and  depth  of  purse  of  each 
individual ;  but  pilgrims  usually  are  disposed  to  be 
liberal.  For  this  reason  there  is  great  competition  to 
get  hold  of  every  well-dressed  visitor,  especially  if  he 
possesses  much  luggage  and  is  attended  by  servants. 
Formerly  the  arrival  of  such  not  infrequently  was  the 
cause  of  squabbles  that  ended  in  an  appeal  to  arms.  To 
put  a  stop  to  such  scandalous  proceedings,  the  Govern¬ 
ment  some  years  ago  started  an  arrangement  by  which 
each  country  is  allotted  to  a  certain  number  of  these 
Mutowifs  (to  anglicize  the  plural),  by  whom  all  the  pilgrims 
arriving  from  it  are  taken.  To  each  group  a  sheikh 
is  appointed,  who  settles  any  disputes,  and  to  whom 
the  pilgrims  may  complain  if  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct 
of  their  ciceroni.  This  arrangement  works  admirably, 
since  the  guides  appointed  to  each  country  naturally 
study  its  language  and  peculiarities,  and  can  consequently 
make  their  visitors’  stay  much  more  pleasant  and  in- 

should  properly  be  transliterated  towaf,  mutowwif  ; 
but  as  many  Arabic  consonants  have  sounds  that  do  not  exist  in  English 
it  seems  of  little  use  to  employ  diacritical  marks  to  represent  them. 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY  65 

structive  than  it  otherwise  would  be.  But  it  was  very 
awkward  for  us  ! 

It  was  not  till  we  were  almost  arrived  at  the  station 
that  we  heard  of  this  new  arrangement,  and  at  once  I 
scented  trouble.  To  go  with  the  Zanzibar  guides  would 
never  do.  I  should  be  forced  to  associate  with  every  one 
coming  from  the  African  coast,  and  should  be  in  constant 
danger  of  being  recognized  by  some  one  who  had  known 
me  in  Mombasa,  even  if  I  did  not  get  caught  out  in  the 
language,  which  was  only  too  probable.  It  was  necessary 
to  decide  instantly  on  some  plan  that  would  serve  in 
this  emergency.  After  a  hurried  consultation  we  agreed 
as  follows.  Abdul  Wahid  came  from  Bagdad  ;  I  was  a 
“  derweish  ”  who  had  been  living  there  for  some  time,  and 
Masaudi,  who  is  a  black  man,  was  my  slave.  The  term 
derweish  requires  explanation.  In  its  strict  sense  it 
means  a  member  of  certain  orders  of  a  semi-monastic 
description,  such  as  are  common  in  Egypt  and  the 
Sudan.  It  is  a  title,  however,  often  assumed  by  people 
who  for  some  reason  do  not  wish  to  be  identified  with 
any  particular  nationality.  This  may  be  owing  to  their 
political  convictions,  to  their  having  got  into  trouble  in 
their  own  country,  or  to  some  question  of  parentage. 

As  I  have  related,  when  the  train  drew  up  the  station 
was  comparatively  empty.  A  few  Mutowifs,  recognizable 
by  their  peculiar  straw  caps  and  brightly-coloured  dresses, 
were  waiting  for  us,  however,  and  at  once  got  into  the 
carriages.  As  we  were  the  only  pilgrims  of  any  conse¬ 
quence  from  their  point  of  view,  they  at  once  asked  who 
we  were.  We  answered  as  agreed.  Some,  however, 
inquired  about  us  among  the  other  passengers,  who  men¬ 
tioned  Zanzibar.  No  Zanzibar  or  Bagdad  Mutowif 
was  there,  luckily,  so  we  were  allowed  to  collect  our 
luggage  and  proceed  unmolested.  This  took  some  little 
time,  and  when  we  were  finally  ready,  the  station  was 
almost  deserted.  We  started  to  walk  into  the  town, 
followed  by  the  porters  carrying  our  things.  We  passed 
through  the  heavy  fortified  gate  of  the  outer  wall,  down 
the  long  straight  street  past  the  barracks,  and  reached 
the  big  square  in  front  of  the  inner  gate.  Halting  here, 
we  asked  a  passer-by  if  he  could  recommend  us  a  house — 
comfortable,  clean,  and  not  too  expensive.  He  examined 

5 


66  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


us  attentively,  and,  apparently  satisfied  with  his  scrutiny, 
said  that  he  himself  had  a  couple  of  rooms  in  his  house 
that  he  would  like  to  let  to  us  if  we  cared  to  come  and 
look  at  them.  This  we  agreed  to  do,  so  leaving  the 
baggage  and  porters  in  charge  of  Masaudi,  Abdul  Wahid 
and  myself  followed  him  through  the  inner  gate  and  down 
the  narrow  winding  street  leading  to  the  mosque.  We 
turned  up  an  alley  to  the  left,  at  the  end  of  which  was 
the  house.  The  rooms  in  question  were  on  the  second 
floor  and  seemed  to  me  exactly  what  we  wanted.  They 
were  clean,  light,  and  well-furnished — at  least,  the  living- 
room  was  ; — the  other  served  as  bath-room  and  kitchen 
combined.  We  expressed  approval,  and  asked  for  his 
terms  ;  after  a  little  discussion,  he  agreed  to  accept  £2 
for  our  stay,  provided  it  did  not  extend  beyond  the  de¬ 
parture  of  the  mahmal  for  Mecca,  which  was  due  to  take 
place  in  about  a  month.  I  was  astonished  at  the  small 
sum  asked,  and  so  was  Abdul  Wahid,  but,  as  will  appear 
presently,  there  was  a  reason  for  all  this.  It  was  not 
indeed  for  some  time  afterwards  that  I  fully  realized  how 
my  guardian  angel  must  have  been  hustling  himself  that 
day.  Our  good  fortune  in  falling  in  with  this  man  was 
quite  extraordinary. 

Abdul  Wahid  went  off  to  fetch  Masaudi  and  the  luggage, 
while  I  remained  in  the  house,  the  proprietor’s  son,  a 
boy  of  about  eleven,  being  sent  to  keep  me  company. 
They  returned  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  bringing  disquieting 
news.  Masaudi,  left  alone,  had  been  surrounded  by 
guides  asking  who  we  were,  and  where  we  had  gone. 
News  of  the  arrival  of  Zanzibar  pilgrims  had  spread,  and 
the  authorized  Mutowifs  had  come  to  claim  us.  Masaudi 
was  angrily  denying  that  he  had  ever  seen  Zanzibar, 
when  Abdul  Wahid  turned  up  and  interfered,  pointing 
out  that  we  were  very  tired  and  had  just  finished  a  long 
journey,  and  that  if  they  had  anything  to  say,  they  could 
come  round  to  the  house  later,  when  we  had  had  a  wash 
and  something  to  eat.  This  appeal  was  successful,  tem¬ 
porarily,  and  they  were  left  in  peace.  As  soon  as  we  were 
together  again,  and  the  porters  had  been  paid  and  had  de¬ 
parted,  I  was  told  what  had  happened.  I  turned  to  the 
owner  of  the  house,  who  was  listening,  and  “  frankly  ” 
explained  the  trouble.  I  told  him  I  really  did  come  from 


THE  HEDJAZ  BAILWAY 


67 


Zanzibar,  but  had  been  warned  not  to  employ  the  proper 
guides  or  go  to  their  houses,  as  the  guides  were  thieves, 
and  the  houses  dirty  and  overcrowded.  I  said  that  I 
liked  his  much  better,  and  wanted  to  study  while  in 
Medina,  and  not  be  bothered  by  a  lot  of  people  coming 
in  and  out  all  day.  What  did  he  advise  ? 

He  said  he  quite  understood,  and  that  it  was  not  un¬ 
usual  for  visitors  to  try  to  get  out  of  employing  their 
proper  guides  ;  as  for  that,  his  son  could  do  all  we  wanted 
in  their  stead,  or  we  could  take  some  one  by  the  day, 
as  we  liked.  He  advised  us  to  say  that  we  all  came  from 
Bagdad,*  and  on  hearing  that  Abdul  Wahid  had  been 
to  Medina  before,  suggested  that  he  should  deny  being 
a  pilgrim,  and  say  he  had  come  there  to  study  or  on 
business,  and  that  I  had  already  made  an  agreement  with 
him  to  act  as  my  Mutowif.  But  he  warned  us  that  there 
would  be  trouble,  and  that  if  they  got  to  know  I  was  a 
Zanzibari,  they  would  have  a  right  to  insist  on  taking  me. 

This  seemed  the  best  plan  in  the  circumstances — at 
any  rate,  we  could  think  of  nothing  better. 

During  the  next  two  hours,  three  Mutowif s  turned  up. 
Abdul  Wahid  conducted  the  conversation,  and  did  it 
excellently.  He  made,  as  usual,  so  much  noise  that  the 
other  men  were  unable  to  get  a  word  in  at  all,  and 
I  don’t  think,  after  a  few  minutes,  any  of  them  parti¬ 
cularly  fancied  having  him  for  a  tenant.  We  told  the 
story  we  had  agreed  upon.  They  tried  to  talk  Swahili 
to  Masaudi,  but  he  obviously  did  not  understand  a  word. 
Finally,  the  last  retired,  convinced  that  wherever  else 
we  came  from,  it  was  not  Zanzibar.  Then  the  owner  of 
the  house  came  in  and  smilingly  told  us  that  to  the  best 
of  his  belief  there  were  no  more.  We  then  had  tea. 

The  proprietor  now  informed  us  that  he  was  an  Abys¬ 
sinian,  by  name  Iman,  and  had  come  here  from  Mecca 
about  ten  years  before.  He  had  married  a  widow  with 
one  child,  the  boy  Ibrahim,  whose  acquaintance  we  had 
already  made.  He  told  us  that  he  had  a  small  private 
income  and  this  house.  He  let  rooms  when  opportunity 

*  There  are  so  many  Syrians  and  Bagdadis  living  in  Medina  that 
visitors  from  those  parts  have  generally  friends  of  their  own  to  show 
them  round,  and  are  allowed  consequently  to  dispense  with  the  services 
of  regular  Mutowifs. 


68  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


offered,  but  did  not  get  many  tenants,  as  few  Abyssinians 
came  to  the  Hedjaz — most  of  them  being  Christians. 
His  true  story  I  heard  from  him  later.  He  had  been 
captured  when  a  child  by  Arab  slave-raiders  and  sold 
in  Mecca.  Having  had  the  luck  to  fall  into  good  hands, 
he  had  been  able  to  save  money  and  eventually  to  pur¬ 
chase  freedom  from  his  master,  on  which  he  had  emigrated 
to  Medina. 

A  tall,  dark  man  of  about  forty-five  years  of  age,  he 
was  always  pleasant  and  cheerful  and  did  his  best  to 
make  us  at  home.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  the 
East  no  odium  attaches  to  a  man  who  has  been  once  a 
slave,  as  might  be  the  case  in  Europe.  In  history  we 
often  find  ex-slaves  in  command  of  armies,  acting  as 
ambassadors,  or  even  on  the  throne  itself. 

The  Prophet’s  mosque  is  known  locally  as  the  “  Haram,” 
a  term  which  is  also  applied  to  the  mosque  of  the  Kaaba 
at  Mecca,  that  of  Omar  at  Jerusalem,  and  many  others. 
The  word  in  its  root  form  implies  unlawfulness  ;  here 
it  means  “  sanctified,”  and  develops,  in  the  manner 
peculiar  to  the  Arabic  language,  into  “  hareem  ” — the 
women’s  apartments — and  so  comes  to  be  applied  to 
women  themselves. 

The  mosque  is  situated  about  the  centre  of  the  inner 
town,  and  has  three  principal  entrances.  There  is  an 
open  square  in  the  middle  surrounded  by  a  colonnade. 
The  Prophet’s  tomb  is  in  the  left-hand  top  corner,  as  seen 
facing  the  Kibla,  the  direction  of  Mecca.  The  tomb, 
which  is  covered  by  a  dome  that  appears  above  the  roof 
of  the  building,  is  surrounded  by  a  rectangular  iron 
railing  about  ten  yards  by  fifteen.  Looking  through 
this,  a  curtain  is  seen  hanging  from  the  roof  so  as  to  form 
a  smaller  enclosure  within.  The  curtain  is  green  in 
colour  and  elaborately  embroidered  with  passages  from 
the  Koran.  Within  this  curtained  space  is  the  tomb  of 
the  Prophet,  and  those  of  his  disciples,  Abu  Bakar  and 
Omar,  the  first  two  Caliphs.  Adjoining  this  curtain 
on  the  north  side  is  another  tomb,  said  to  be  that  of  his 
daughter  Fatima,  but  this  last  is  admittedly  of  doubtful 
authenticity,  so  much  so  that  the  salutations  to  her  are 
read  twice  over,  once  here  and  once  in  the  Bakeia,  where 
some  people  are  of  opinion  that  she  was  really  interred. 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY 


69 


When  we  had  finished  tea,  Iman  came  to  suggest  that, 
if  we  were  sufficiently  rested,  we  should  go  to  the  Haram 
for  the  Aesha  prayer — the  last  of  the  day.  Ibrahim 
would  show  us  the  way.  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  went  to¬ 
gether,  leaving  Masaudi.  On  reaching  the  main  street, 
we  turned  to  the  left,  and  two  minutes’  walk  brought 
us  to  the  principal  gate.  It  was  now  dark,  and  the 
effect  was  both  curious  and  impressive.  The  vista  of 
tall  houses,  with  their  peculiar  lattice  windows  over¬ 
hanging  the  narrow  cobbled  street,  now  gloomy  and 
deserted,  ended  abruptly  in  a  flight  of  wide  steps  leading 
up  to  a  great  arch,  through  which  appeared  a  prospect 
of  marble  columns,  blazing  arc  lights,  and  hundreds  of 
hanging  lamps.  As  we  approached,  a  sort  of  confused 
murmur  became  audible.  We  handed  our  shoes  to  the 
gate-keeper  and  passed  in,  Ibrahim  stepping  in  front  as 
we  did  so,  and  reciting  for  our  benefit  the  appropriate 
prayer  which  we  were  supposed  to  repeat  after  him. 
I  shall  not  translate  any  of  these  recitations.  They  are 
very  much  what  one  would  expect,  and,  apart  from 
references  to  Mohammed,  would  do  equally  well  for 
Christians  visiting  the  tombs  of  their  saints. 

A  strange  spectacle  it  is,  and  one  that  never  fails  to 
impress  the  new-comer.  Scattered  about  are  many  in 
the  various  postures  of  prayer,  others  are  reading  from 
the  Koran  with  the  low  monotonous  intonation  and 
swaying  motion  of  the  body  peculiar  to  that  occupation. 
Here  and  there  again  small  groups  squat  round  learned 
men,  listening  to  their  reading  or  explanation  of  some 
religious  work.  Others  converse  in  lower  tones  of  secular 
matters,  or  are  engaged  with  their  private  correspondence. 
About  the  railed  enclosure  round  the  tomb  stand  lines  of 
men,  each  group  being  headed  by  the  Mutowif,  who 
declaims  the  salutation  in  a  loud  sing-song  voice,  which 
the  others  follow  or  attempt  to  follow  in  chorus.  As 
many  of  them  do  not  understand  Arabic,  the  result  of 
this  is  often  ludicrous  in  the  extreme.  Many  good  stories 
are  current  of  the  way  the  sense  is  unintentionally  per¬ 
verted  ;  but  to  appreciate  their  humour,  it  is  necessary 
to  know  the  language. 

We  moved  forward  to  the  “  Makam  ”  of  the  Prophet — 
that  is  to  say,  the  place  where  he  used  to  pray.  This  is 


70  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


now  fronted  by  a  small  elaborately  carved  arch  with 
many  candles  at  the  sides.  Here  we  were  directed  to 
pray  the  two  rukkas  customary  on  entering  the  mosque.* 
While  doing  so,  we  were  the  objects  of  much  comment 
on  the  part  of  a  group  of  guides  standing  round.  Abdul 
Wahid  they  at  once  identified  as  a  “  Bagdadi,”  but  they 
could  not  agree  about  me.  Some  said  “  Persian,”  others 
“  from  Bussorah.”  When  we  got  up  they  asked  us  who  we 
were.  I  said  I  was  a  derweish,  a  wanderer  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  One  of  them  tried  me  in  Persian,  at  which 
I  laughed  and  shook  my  head.  Then  he  offered  to  take 
us  round  for  a  dollar,  to  which  we  agreed.  As  we  walked 
across  to  the  tomb,  he  told  me  that  he  would  recite  for 
us  a  special  invocation,  which  was  inoffensive  to  the  pre¬ 
judices  of  the  Sheia  sect.  I  thanked  him,  but  said  I 
was  not  a  Sheie.f  This  puzzled  him, for  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  that  I  was  a  Persian.  The  Sheia  detest  Abu  Bakar 
and  Omar,  so  their  names  are  either  left  out  of  the  “  visi¬ 
tation  ”  altogether,  or  else  they  merely  say,  “  Peace  be 
with  you,  companion  of  the  Apostle.”  The  Sunna,  on 
the  other  hand,  say  a  long  greeting  to  both. 

Until  quite  recent  years,  the  Sheia  heresy  was  held  in 
such  detestation  in  the  holy  cities  that  Persians  and 
others  professing  it  ran  considerable  danger  there,  and 
were  not  infrequently  ill-treated,  or  even  killed.  They 
retaliated  by  venting  their  spite  in  curses  on  Abu  Bakar, 
Omar,  and  the  others  whose  memory  they  have  been 
brought  up  to  hate.  Latterly,  however,  a  more  reasonable 
attitude  has  prevailed  on  both  sides.  A  Sheie  need  no 
longer  hide  himself  like  an  infidel.  He  may  openly  pro¬ 
claim  his  opinion,  and  the  guardians  of  the  sanctuary 
need  fear  no  acts  of  vandalism  on  his  part.  “  We  cannot 
bless,”  is  the  modern  and  reasonable  view,  “  but  need 
not  curse.” 

Arrived  at  the  railings,  we  were  directed  to  peer  between 
the  bars.  Nothing  more  is  visible  than  the  folds  of  the 
green  curtain  I  have  described.  Then,  standing  back, 
our  guide  repeated  the  salutation  to  the  Prophet,  at  the 

*  Beside  the  five  regular  prayers  which  are  compulsory,  there  are 
many  occasions  on  which  “  Sunna,”  or  optional  prayers,  are  enjoined. 
Such  occasions  are  on  entering  a  mosque,  sighting  the  new  moon, 
giving  thanks,  when  in  danger,  or  thirsty,  and  many  others, 

f  See  note,  p.  33,  “  Bedou.” 


THE  HEDJAZ  RAILWAY 


71 


close  of  which  we  repeated  the  fatiha  with  upturned 
palms.  Moving  round  to  the  south  side,  we  similarly 
greeted  Abu  Bakar  and  Omar,  then,  on  the  east  side, 
the  Saints  buried  in  the  Bakeia,  and,  lastly,  the  Prophet’s 
daughter  Fatima.  The  supposed  tomb  of  the  last-named 
is  visible,  being  outside  the  green  curtain,  and  is  decorated 
with  many  jewels  said  to  be  of  great  value.  Passing 
round  to  the  north  side,  and  turning  our  faces  once  more 
towards  Mecca,  we  prayed  two  more  rukkas.  Opposite 
the  tomb  on  this  side  is  a  slightly  raised  platform  for  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  eunuch  guardians  of  the  mosque. 
Twenty  or  thirty  of  them  are  generally  to  be  found 
squatting  there,  chatting  or  reading.  Night  and  day 
there  is  always  some  one  on  guard. 

The  call  of  the  Muadhin  to  prayer  was  now  resounding 
from  the  minarets,  and  the  crowd  began  to  drift  into 
lines.  Those  who  had  been  reading  returned  their 
“  Korans  ”  *  to  the  library  ;  the  lecturers  gathered  up 
their  books  and  papers,  and  any  contributions  the  audience 
might  have  made.  The  Imam  having  taken  his  place, 
we  prayed  the  four  rukkas  of  the  Aeslia  prayer,  after 
which  we  paid  off  our  guide  and  walked  back  to  the  house. 

After  partaking  of  some  supper  that  Masaudi  had 
prepared,  we  smoked  a  shisha  and  prepared  to  turn  in. 
Our  host  Iman  came  to  wish  us  good  night,  and  to  ask 
if  we  wished  to  be  called  at  dawn  for  the  morning  prayer. 
This  was  really  rather  inconsiderate  of  him,  as  we  could 
not  very  well  say  no.  We  accordingly  assented,  but 
mentioned  that  if  he  did  forget  about  it  we  should  not 
be  seriously  angry — a  remark  that  seemed  to  afford 
him  much  amusement.  He  recommended  me  to  dress 
like  the  townspeople  as  soon  as  I  could  get  some  clothes, 
as  then,  he  said,  no  one  would  bother  any  more  about 
me.  Otherwise  I  should  be  continually  pestered  with 
questions  as  to  where  I  came  from. 

*  The  term  “  Koran  ”  means  the  substance  of  the  sacred  work,  not 
the  actual  book,  for  which  the  proper  word  is  “  Mashaf.”  The  Koran 
is  about  the  length  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  written  in  the  very 
purest  Arabic,  and  for  that  reason  is  not  readily  understood  by  Arabs 
of  the  present  day,  many  of  the  words  being  obsolete.  Part  of  it  is 
in  rhymed  prose.  The  production  of  so  extraordinary  a  work  by  an 
illiterate  man  is  considered  one  of  the  proofs  of  the  Prophet’s  mission. 
Islam  is  divided  as  to  whether  the  Koran  was  created  or  is  coeval  with 
the  deity  himself. 


CHAPTER  IV 


MEDINA 

The  next  morning  we  woke  about  9.30 — Iman  having 
unaccountably  forgotten  to  call  us  at  daybreak.  We  had 
agreed  that  it  was  undesirable  that  Masaudi  and  I  should 
be  seen  about  together,  for  we  might  meet  some  one  who 
knew  him,  and  whose  attention  might  thus  be  attracted 
to  me.  Alone,  or  with  Abdul  Wahid,  I  had  little  fear 
of  being  recognized  even  if  I  ran  across  some  one  who  had 
formerly  known  me.  Masaudi  accordingly  went  off  to 
the  Haram  accompanied  by  his  chaperon  Ibrahim,  while 
Abdul  Wahid  and  I  did  some  shopping.  As  no  ready-made 
clothes  were  obtainable,  we  engaged  a  tailor,  who  accom¬ 
panied  us  to  the  market  and  chose  what  he  considered 
suitable  materials.  His  proceedings  rather  amused  me. 
Once  engaged,  he  assumed  entire  command  and  chose 
the  colours  and  materials  he  thought  becoming,  without 
in  the  least  consulting  our  inclinations.  The  only  time 
I  ventured  a  remonstrance  I  was  told  not  to  interfere. 
Having  bought  what  he  wanted,  we  returned  to  his 
workshop,  where  I  was  duly  measured.  I  ordered  two 
suits,  which  I  got  three  days  later  and  from  that  time 
forward  generally  wore. 

This  costume,  with  slight  variations,  is  the  same  in  all 
the  Hedjaz  towns,  and  is  frequently  adopted  by  foreign 
visitors.  It  consists  of  wide  cotton  trousers,  a  long  shirt 
reaching  to  the  ankles,  a  coloured  gown,  and  a  sash  which 
holds  a  dagger  of  peculiar  shape  and  often  a  six-shooter 
as  well.  Over  these  is  worn  a  “  jubba  ”  with  wide 
sleeves — of  any  material  or  colour.  In  troublous  times 
such  as  these  most  people  carry  swords,  either  slung 
under  the  left  armpit  over  the  jubba,  or  carried  in  the 
hand  like  a  walking-stick.  As  head-covering  some, 

72 


MEDINA 


73 


especially  those  who  have  performed  the  pilgrimage, 
wear  a  sort  of  straw  cap  worked  with  coloured  silk  and 
wound  with  a  white  band  :  others  wear  a  cotton  cap 
under  a  cloth  fashioned  into  a  turban. 

Thus  arrayed  there  was  nothing  in  my  appearance  to 
excite  remark,  nor  was  I  again  bothered  by  the  guides 
except  once  more  as  I  shall  relate. 

We  prayed  in  the  Haram  at  midday  and  spent  the 
afternoon  exploring  the  city.  It  is  all  interesting  and 
picturesque.  In  contrast  with  most  Eastern  places, 
everything  has  a  clean  and  well-to-do  appearance. 
The  business  part  of  the  town  is  practically  confined  to 
two  long  streets,  both  very  narrow.  Three  weeks  later, 
when  the  pilgrims  had  begun  to  arrive  in  earnest,  it 
was  difficult  to  make  one’s  way  along  them.  Some  of 
the  dwelling  houses  in  the  residential  quarter  are  four  or 
five  stories  high,  and  have  small  gardens  behind.  All 
are  built  with  the  peculiar  overhanging  lattices  which  are 
so  characteristic  of  Eastern  houses.  These  are  con¬ 
structed  to  command  a  view  of  the  front  door  while 
leaving  the  observer  himself  invisible.  They  are  pro¬ 
vided  with  loopholes  through  which  one  may  have  a 
good  look  at  visitors  before  opening  to  them,  and  dis¬ 
charge  at  them  a  blessing  or  a  charge  of  buckshot  as 
may  seem  advisable. 

On  the  way  back  we  met  an  old  acquaintance  of  Abdul 
Wahid’s — a  Persian,  who  had  been  formerly  valet  to  a 
friend  of  his.  We  badly  wanted  a  cook,  for  none  of  us 
were  capable  of  preparing  any  more  elaborate  dish  than 
the  boiled  eggs  on  which,  with  melons,  bread,  and  honey, 
we  had  been  subsisting.  The  melons  were  excellent  and 
very  cheap.  Unfortunately  the  dates  were  over  just 
before  we  arrived.  We  agreed  with  this  man  that  he 
should  cook  for  us  in  his  own  house  and  bring  the  food 
in  such  a  state  that  it  could  easily  be  warmed  up  :  and 
if  satisfactory  we  promised  to  engage  him  for  the  journey 
to  Mecca.  He  turned  out  to  be  a  most  accomplished 
chef ,  and  from  that  time  forward  we  fared  very  well.  I 
am  sure  he  would  have  made  the  fortune  of  any  London 
restaurant. 

The  next  few  days  passed  uneventfully.  I  spent  a 
good  deal  of  time  in  the  mosque,  where  I  would  find  a 


74  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


comfortable  place  with  my  back  to  a  pillar,  pretend  to 
read  a  book,  and  watch  the  people.  They  indeed  were 
a  never-failing  source  of  amusement,  and  every  day 
brought  fresh  arrivals.  A  large  caravan  came  in  from 
Yembu  bringing  crowds  of  Indians,  Javanese,  and  China¬ 
men.  Every  Eastern  race  might  be  identified  in  the 
motley  crowd  and  every  variety  of  costume,  till  the  whole 
resembled  nothing  so  much  as  a  fancy-dress  ball.  In  the 
same  line  at  prayer  stand  European  Turks  with  their 
frock-coats  and  stick-up  collars — Anatolians  with  enor¬ 
mous  trousers  and  fantastic  weapons — Arabs  from  the 
West,  who  look  as  if  they  were  arrayed  for  burial — the 
Bedou,  with  their  spears  and  scimetars — and  Indians,  who 
in  spite  of  their  being  the  richest  class  there,  manage 
as  usual  to  look  the  most  unkempt  and  the  least  clean. 
Then  beside  there  are  Persians,  Chinese,  Javanese, 
Japanese,  Malayans,  a  dozen  different  African  races, 
Egyptians,  Afghans,  Baluchies,  Swahilis,  and  “  Arabs  ” 
of  every  description.  Representatives  of  half  the  races 
of  the  globe  may  be  picked  out  in  the  mosque  any  day 
during  the  month  before  the  pilgrimage.  The  kaleido¬ 
scopic  effect  and  the  babel  of  tongues  may  be  imagined. 

The  behaviour  of  each  party  as  it  is  brought  into  the 
mosque  for  the  first  time  is  an  interesting  study,  and 
well  exemplifies  their  racial  characteristics.  The  ex¬ 
travagant  emotion  of  the  Indians,  when  they  actually 
see  with  their  own  eyes  this  tomb  which  they  have  from 
childhood  been  taught  to  regard  with  superstitious  awe, 
contrasts  with  the  subdued  behaviour  of  the  more 
phlegmatic  Arabs — while  the  Javanese  and  Chinamen 
seem  determined  to  be  astonished  at  nothing.  Yet  all 
of  them  are  impressed  in  their  way.  Many  burst  into 
tears  and  frantically  kiss  the  railings  :  I  have  seen 
Indians  and  Afghans  fall  down  apparently  unconscious. 
They  seem  to  be  much  more  affected  here  than  before  the 
Kaaba  itself.  At  Mecca  the  feeling  is  one  of  awe  and 
reverence,  here  the  personal  element  comes  in.  The 
onlooker  might  fancy  they  were  visiting  the  tomb  of 
some  very  dear  friend,  one  whom  they  had  actually 
known  and  been  intimate  with  in  his  lifetime.  With 
frantic  interest  they  listen  to  their  guide  as  he  describes 
the  surroundings.  Here  is  the  place  where  the  Prophet 


Medina 


MEDINA 


75 


prayed,  the  pulpit  he  preached  from,  the  pillar  against 
which  he  leant — there,  looking  into  the  mosque,  is  the 
window  of  Abu  Bakar’s  house,  where  for  long  he  stayed 
as  a  guest,  and  beyond  is  the  little  garden  planted  by  his 
daughter  Fatima.  All  these  marvels  may  be  spurious 
in  a  sense,  since  no  traces  of  the  original  mosque  remain, 
yet  the  place  itself  must  at  least  be  genuine,  and  this 
idea  detracts  in  no  wise  from  the  pilgrim’s  appreciation 
of  them. 

What  must  be  the  thoughts,  I  often  reflected,  of  the 
pilgrims  from  countries  now  under  foreign  domination 
where  Islam  exists  more  or  less  on  sufferance,  its  creed 
derided  by  the  governing  classes,  its  law  tampered  with 
when  it  does  not  happen  to  fit  in  with  the  ruler’s  notions 
of  civilization  ?  Here  in  the  Prophet’s  own  city  are  at 
least  all  the  outward  signs  of  worldly  wealth  and  power. 
The  Moslem  standard  floats  over  its  imposing  fortresses. 
Rows  of  cannon  protect  its  gates.  The  law  of  the  Koran 
holds  good  within,  unchanged  in  a  thousand  years,  and 
none  but  believers  may  even  enter  the  sacred  territory. 
The  splendour  of  the  Mosque  itself  suggests  the  bygone 
glories  of  their  empire. 

The  guns  are  obsolete — a  4*7  would  soon  convert  the 
walls  into  a  dust- heap — and  the  mosque  is  inferior  to  many 
others,  but  that  is  neither  here  nor  there.  The  illusion 
remains,  and  no  doubt  brings  visions  to  many  of  the  time 
when  the  Caliph  ruled  the  civilized  world,  and  to  all  the 
hope  that  better  days  may  yet  dawn. 

•  •  •  •  • 

Masaudi  had  engaged  a  man  to  recite  the  Koran — a 
pious  act  in  memory  of  his  dead  father.  He  was,  as  is 
usual,  a  blind  man  who  earned  his  living  in  this  way. 
Astonishing  as  it  may  seem,  a  great  many  people  know 
the  whole  book  by  heart,  and  will  repeat  it  without 
making  a  single  mistake  or  missing  a  syllable.  Blindness 
unfortunately  is  very  common  in  this  part  of  the  East, 
and  every  endeavour  is  made  by  charitable  people  to 
find  occupation  for  those  so  afflicted.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  in  the  Hedjaz  blind  men,  and  in  fact  beggars  of  all 
sorts,  have  a  very  good  time.  Charity,  called  one  of  the 
four  pillars  of  Islam,  is  considered  especially  blessed 
when  practised  on  the  pilgrimage.  I  have  seen  people 


76  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


throw  about  handfuls  of  silver  when  leaving  the  mosque. 
Many  of  the  beggars,  however,  are  impostors  of  the  worst 
kind,  and  should  be  suppressed.  In  Mecca  afterwards  I 
talked  to  a  blind  man  who  told  me  he  had  lost  his  sight  ten 
years  before,  after  a  bad  attack  of  ophthalmia.  He  had  at 
once  begun  to  learn  the  Koran,  and  in  two  years  had 
been  able  to  repeat  it  perfectly.  The  first  three  chapters 
were  the  real  difficulty,  he  said — after  that  the  rest  came 
comparatively  easily. 

I  inquired  once  whether  one  could  get  leave  to  pass 
within  the  railing  around  the  tomb,  but  learnt  that  only 
the  Benee  Hashim,  that  is  to  say  the  descendants  of  Ali 
and  Fatima,  and  the  eunuchs  in  charge  were  permitted 
to  do  so.  Not  that  any  one  who  did  get  inside  would  be 
any  nearer  a  solution  of  the  mystery  that  lies  behind  the 
veil,  for  to  raise  the  curtain  unobserved  would  be  quite 
impracticable,  and  to  be  seen  doing  so  would  of  course 
mean  instant  destruction.  Some  have  expressed  doubts 
as  to  whether  Mohammed  is  really  buried  there  at  all. 
Without  pretending  to  sift  the  evidence  said  to  support 
the  view  that  he  is  not,  I  think  it  to  the  last  degree  un¬ 
likely  that  there  is  anything  in  it.  The  Prophet  lived  to 
see  his  religion  supreme  in  Arabia,  and  at  his  death  was 
practically  an  emperor.  It  is  inconceivable  that  his 
grave  could  have  been  forgotten  in  a  place  like  Medina, 
which  has  always  been  a  bulwark  of  the  faith. 

There  is  a  legend  that  many  years  ago  two  Europeans 
penetrated  in  disguise  into  the  city,  and  attempted  to 
tunnel  through  from  their  house  into  the  mausoleum. 
They  were  discovered  and  crucified.  (This  and  other 
stories  are  often  quoted  to  justify  the  great  precaution 
taken  in  the  reception  of  converts  of  Western  origin.)  I 
have  been  asked  what  would  happen  to  a  disguised 
European  who  had  the  misfortune  to  be  unmasked  here 
or  in  Mecca.  It  is  generally  believed  by  the  inhabitants 
themselves  that  the  authorities  have  instructions  to 
put  to  death  any  one  so  discovered  without  applying  to 
Stamboul  for  confirmation.  There  is  probably  no 
foundation  in  fact  for  this  belief,  though  it  is  just  the 
sort  of  order  that  would  be  given  in  Turkey.  The  local 
authorities,  if  informed  quietly,  would  most  likely  try 
to  get  the  intruder  out  of  the  country  safely — certainly 


MEDINA 


77 


they  would  try  to  do  so  in  the  case  of  an  Englishman.* 
If  the  identity  of  the  visitor  became  revealed  to  his 
Mutowif  it  would  be  merely  a  question  of  “  how  much.” 
You  can  bribe  anybody  to  do  anything  in  Arabian  towns. 
If  discovered  by  the  townspeople  in  Mecca  outside  the 
pilgrimage  season  it  is  doubtful  if  anything  very  much 
would  happen,  except  that  the  traveller  would  have  to 
leave  in  a  hurry.  At  Medina  I  fancy  they  are  rather 
more  fanatical  on  this  point,  for  the  shrine  owes  to  its 
supposed  exclusiveness  much  of  its  value  in  Moslem 
estimation.  Also  it  is  not  so  easy  to  get  away  from 
as  Mecca. 

But  all  the  Sultan’s  horses  and  all  the  Sultan’s  men 
would  not  avail  to  save  one  who  became  known  for  a 
disguised  “  Effrengi  ”  f  in  either  place  from  the  wild 
fury  of  the  pilgrim  mob  at  this  season.  A  quick  passage 
to  a  better  world  by  a  sword-thrust  or  bullet  would 
probably  be  the  best  that  could  befall  him,  for  a  much 
more  unpleasant  end  might  well  be  feared.  The  only 
chance  in  such  an  emergency  would  be  to  repeat  the 
Moslem  profession  of  faith  and  endeavour  to  take  refuge 
in  the  house  of  some  influential  person,  such  as  the 
Shareef  of  Mecca. 

It  occasionally  happens  that  Moslems  of  irreproachable 
antecedents  are  accused  of  being  disguised  Christians. 
The  Turkish  officer  who  took  some  of  the  photographs 
that  appear  in  this  book  came  near  losing  his  life  at  the 
hands  of  some  Magribi  Arabs  on  the  Day  of  Arafat  :  and 
I  heard  of  a  Russian  pilgrim  who,  though  he  was,  and 
his  family  had  been,  Moslem  for  generations,  was  saved 
with  difficulty  by  the  Turkish  authorities  at  Yembu  from 
an  angry  crowd  excited  by  a  peculiar  form  of  headgear 
he  was  wearing,  which  resembled  a  European  hat. 

We  had  tried  several  times  to  visit  the  Bakeia,  the 
cemetery  outside  the  wall,  where  many  of  the  most 
famous  people  in  Mohammedan  history  lie  buried.  The 
gate  however  was  kept  locked  owing  to  its  being  exposed 
to  the  enemy’s  fire,  and  for  long  we  could  not  get  in.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  siege  there  had  been  several  casualties 

*  This  was  written  in  1909.  To-day  I  am  not  so  sure. 

f  This  term,  which  is  merely  a  corruption  of  “  frangais,”  is  applied 
to  Western  Christians. 


78  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


there,  and  the  Government  had  decided  to  close  it  for  the 
time  being.  Since  the  day  of  our  arrival  no  further 
operations  had  been  undertaken  by  either  side,  and 
nothing  but  an  occasional  cannon  shot  from  the  walls  pro¬ 
claimed  that  anything  out  of  the  ordinary  was  taking  place. 

Our  friend  Abdullah  of  Damascus  had  given  us  some 
introductions,  and  Abdul  Wahid  met  some  friends  from 
Aleppo  with  whom  we  exchanged  visits.  The  weather 
had  turned  very  cold  and  many  people  were  hoping  that 
the  Bedou  camped  round  the  town  would  get  tired  of 
it  and  go  home — especially  as  many  of  them  came  from 
the  warmer  South.  The  same  enthusiasm  for  the  con¬ 
stitution  was  to  be  found  here  as  in  Damascus,  but  in 
a  less  degree.  Arab  and  Turk  alike  seemed  to  have 
got  parliamentarianism  and  Liberal  principles  on  the 
brain.  My  dislike  for  both  was  regarded  as  hopelessly 
old-fashioned  and  reactionary.  I  am  afraid  I  managed 
to  give  the  impression  that  Zanzibar  is  in  a  sadly  back¬ 
ward  state,  or  that  I  myself  am  peculiarly  stupid.  Not 
to  know  a  word  of  any  European  language  is  to  be  held 
very  ignorant  even  in  Medina.  Most  people  of  the  class 
with  whom  we  associated  had  at  any  rate  a  smattering  of 
Erench  and  sometimes  of  English  too.  I  was  careful 
never  to  know  anything. 

England  and  the  English  were  in  high  favour  every¬ 
where,  other  European  countries  being  nowhere  in 
comparison.  This  was  partly  in  consequence  of  our 
attitude  in  the  then  recent  imbroglio  with  Austria  over 
the  annexation  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  but  was  due 
still  more  to  a  genuine  admiration  and  respect  for  British 
institutions  and  methods.* 

There  are  several  cafes  in  Medina,  and  in  them  we  used 
to  sit  and  smoke  of  an  evening.  They  are  however  dirty 
and  generally  bad  compared  with  those  of  Damascus. 
Any  one  starting  a  decent  hotel  and  restaurant  here  would 
make  his  fortune.  Another  excellent  speculation  would 
be  a  cold-storage  depot.  Meat  is  rather  expensive  and 
fish  of  course  unobtainable.  In  the  shops  many  European 
food-stuff s  are  sold.  It  seems  strange  to  see  the  ad¬ 
vertisements  of  such  things  as  Cadbury’s  Chocolate 

*  This  unfortunately  no  longer  holds  good,  for  our  influence  has 
since  been  muddled  away.  To-day  for  England  we  must  read  Germany. 


MEDINA  79 

and  Huntley  and  Palmer’s  biscuits  in  such  surround¬ 
ings. 

I  searched  long  to  find  something  characteristic  of  the 
place  to  take  away  as  a  souvenir,  but  nothing  of  the  sort 
was  to  be  had.  There  are  no  industries,  and  no  books 
are  printed  there.  I  bought  some  rather  curious  stones, 
known  technically  I  believe  as  graphic  granite,  which 
were  said  to  be  found  only  at  a  certain  hill  in  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood.*  On  returning  to  Egypt  I  found  precisely 
the  same  stones  being  sold  in  Cairo  at  about  half  the  price. 
Many  other  pilgrims  apparently  got  “  had  ”  in  the  same 
way.  Abdul  Wahid  got  let  in  over  some  manuscript 
books  he  bought  at  an  extravagant  price,  in  hopes 
of  selling  them  in  Europe  at  a  still  more  extravagant 
profit.  One  of  these,  in  Cufic  characters,  was  supposed 
to  have  been  written  in  the  time  of  the  Prophet,  which  of 
course  would  have  made  it  of  great  value.  One  day 
while  amusing  myself  by  endeavouring  to  decipher  some 
of  it  I  came  on  a  reference  to  a  man  who  had  lived  many 
hundred  years  later,  and  concluded  that  the  man  who 
had  sold  it  to  Abdul  Wahid  was  by  no  means  so  big  a 
fool  as  the  latter  had  supposed  him. 

We  made  friends  with  the  sheikh  in  charge  of  the 
beautiful  library  attached  to  the  Haram.  I  visited  him 
there  several  times  and  was  shown  many  interesting 
works  of  undoubted  authenticity.  This  library,  though 
small,  is  very  well  kept  and  luxuriously  furnished.  Ad¬ 
mittance  is  free,  but  the  books  may  not  be  taken  away. 

There  are  two  “  Turkish  baths  ”  in  the  town — both 
bad,  and  at  this  season  fearfully  overcrowded.  These 
contrasts  are  found  everywhere.  Dirt  and  meanness 
alternate  with  extravagant  luxury.  Considering  how 
very  particular  these  people  are  about  personal  cleanli¬ 
ness,  it  is  extraordinary  that  they  should  put  up  with 
such  vile  accommodation  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  baths 
both  here  and  in  Mecca. 

The  climate  of  Medina  at  this  time  of  year  is  quite 
delightful.  The  air  in  the  daytime  is  warm  but  very 
bracing,  and  at  night  it  is  quite  cold.  We  always  slept 
with  at  least  two  blankets.  The  great  majority  of  the 
pilgrims  cannot  afford  houses,  and  camp  out  in  any  open 

*  They  come  from  the  Yemen,  as  a  matter  of  fact. 


80  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


space  they  can  find — most  of  them  in  the  big  square 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  town.  Those  from  the 
South  suffer  much  from  cold,  which  doubtless  accounts 
for  the  somewhat  high  mortality  amongst  them. 

We  had  been  living  thus  quietly  for  about  a  fortnight 
when  the  trouble  with  the  Bedou  began  again  to  assume 
serious  proportions.  So  quiet  had  they  been  since  our 
arrival,  that  people  began  to  think  it  was  all  over,  and 
some  owning  houses  and  gardens  outside  the  defences 
foolishly  attempted  to  visit  their  property.  They  paid 
for  their  temerity  with  their  lives.  The  following  morn¬ 
ing  we  were  roused  at  daybreak  by  heavy  rifle-fire  to  the 
south  of  the  town,  and  learned  that  the  Bedou  had  driven 
in  the  outposts  in  that  direction  and  were  firing  on  the 
defences.  After  breakfast  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  went  down 
to  the  gate  leading  to  the  Bakeia  and  found  it  locked  and 
guarded.  We  asked  the  officer  in  charge  if  wTe  might  go  up 
on  the  wall  to  see  what  was  going  on.  He  made  no  objec¬ 
tion,  merely  warning  us  not  to  expose  ourselves.  We  as¬ 
cended  and  walked  along  the  parapet  till  we  came  to  a 
gun-embrasure,  which  commanded  a  good  view  of  the 
proceedings,  being  at  the  south-west  corner  near  the 
junction  of  the  two  walls.  Here  we  found  a  gun  about 
the  size  of  a  12-pounder,  firing  black  powder  ;  it  was 
manned  by  half-a-dozen  men  under  a  young  officer. 
Along  with  them,  comfortably  under  cover,  were  a  couple 
of  eunuchs,  who,  like  ourselves,  had  come  to  see  the  fun. 
In  front  of  us  was  open  ground,  extending  for  perhaps 
a  thousand  yards,  dotted  with  graves  and  one  or  two 
ruined  walls,  beyond  which  the  dense  plantations  of  date- 
palms  began.  Half-way  across,  and  rather  to  the  right, 
one  of  these  walls  had  been  put  in  a  “  defensible  con¬ 
dition,”  and  was  held  by  some  fifty  riflemen,  who  were 
blazing  away  merrily  at  nothing  in  particular.  Along 
the  dark  line  of  trees  beyond,  scattered  puffs  of  smoke 
indicated  the  enemy’s  position.  A  few  odd  bullets 
whistled  overhead  or  plumped  harmlessly  into  the  wall. 
Our  gun  fired  an  occasional  round  of  common  shell  at 
the  smoke  where  it  appeared  thickest. 

Taking  up  a  position  where  we  could  see  well  without 
exposing  more  of  our  persons  than  was  absolutely  neces¬ 
sary,  we  spent  the  morning  smoking  and  talking  with 


MEDINA 


81 


the  men.  The  officer,  unfortunately,  did  not  speak 
Arabic,  but  Abdul  Wahid  managed  to  get  rid  of  a  lot  of 
his  bad  Turkish.  At  midday,  as  nothing  more  seemed 
likely  to  happen,  we  adjourned  to  the  mosque  for  prayer 
and  then  to  lunch.  That  evening  news  arrived  that 
several  regiments  of  the  best  troops  in  the  army,  armed 
with  rifles  of  the  latest  pattern,  were  on  their  way  from 
Constantinople.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  Pasha 
of  considerable  renown  in  war,  who  was  to  take  over  the 
command  at  Medina.  The  Government  apparently  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  something  must  be  done  to 
put  an  end  to  the  present  scandalous  state  of  affairs. 

The  intelligence  that  he  was  about  to  be  superseded 
seems  to  have  roused  the  governor  to  energetic  measures 
on  his  own  account.  Since  the  disastrous  affair  at  the 
outset  of  the  operations  he  had  contented  himself  with 
a  purely  passive  defence — hoping,  no  doubt,  that  cold, 
hunger,  and  internal  squabbles  would  disperse  the  Bedou 
hordes  without  further  bloodshed.  He  now  determined 
to  do  something  startling  during  the  few  days  of  authority 
remaining  to  him,  and  as  a  preliminary  decided  to  under¬ 
take  that  operation  of  war  known  as  a  “  reconnaissance 
in  force  ”■ — in  other  words,  to  drive  in  the  enemy’s  ad¬ 
vanced  posts  with  a  view  to  discovering  where  their 
main  body  was  located  and  what  it  was  doing.  This,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  was  stated  in  “  Combined  Training  ” 
to  be  an  unsatisfactory  and  dangerous  method  of  obtain¬ 
ing  information,  only  permissible  in  very  special  circum¬ 
stances  ;  and  so,  indeed,  it  proved  in  this  case. 

The  town  is  surrounded  by  date-plantations  on  three 
sides  ;  to  the  west,  however,  the  country  is  more  or 
less  open,  rising  gently  for  some  distance,  then  broken 
up  into  low  foot-hills,  with  scattered  groves  of  date-palms. 
This  open  ground  was  commanded  by  the  artillery  placed 
on  the  walls  and  by  the  detached  fort  north-west  of  the 
town.  On  the  following  day  at  daybreak  a  force  of  about 
four  thousand  men  was  advanced  in  widely  extended 
order.  It  soon  encountered  opposition,  and  by  ten 
o’clock  firing  had  become  general  all  along  the  line. 
Warned  by  this  that  something  was  taking  place,  we  went 
down  to  the  Bakeia  gate,  intending  to  resume  our  former 
position.  To  my  disappointment  we  were  refused  per- 

6 


82  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


mission  to  ascend.  We  retired  perforce,  but  after  lunch, 
the  sounds  of  the  conflict  in  progress  becoming  too  tan¬ 
talizing,  I  insisted  on  trying  again.  Once  more  we  were 
told  it  was  out  of  the  question  ;  but  this  time  I  did  not 
intend  to  take  a  refusal.  We  made  a  movement  to  go 
up  the  steps  and  the  sentry  presented  his  gun.  We  came 
down  and  began  to  argue  with  him.  The  officer  in 
charge  came  out  and  told  us  we  were  fools.  He  said  the 
whole  face  of  the  defences  on  that  side  was  under  fire. 
We  swore  we  would  be  very  careful  and  keep  under  cover, 
if  he  would  let  us  go.  He  maintained  that  his  orders 
were  strict  and  that  it  was  impossible.  While  continuing 
the  discussion  we  gradually  ascended  the  stairway  step 
by  step  till,  coming  to  a  bend,  we  doubled  round  and 
disappeared.  I  fully  expected  to  be  followed  and  ig- 
nominiously  brought  back  ;  but  apparently  they  had 
given  us  up  as  hopeless  lunatics  who  had  better  be  allowed 
to  go  and  get  shot  if  they  really  wanted  to.  Arrived  at 
the  top,  we  rapidly  made  our  way  along  the  wall  to  our 
old  position,  but  found  that  the  gun  had  been  moved. 
Continuing  our  circuit  of  the  wall  we  came  upon  it  farther 
along,  protecting  the  left  flank  of  the  line,  and  with 
it  our  old  friends  under  a  new  officer.  We  were  here  very 
well  situated  to  see  what  was  going  on  without  any  par¬ 
ticular  risk,  and  we  found  about  half-a-dozen  Muto- 
wifs  and  some  eunuchs  thus  engaged.  The  latter  are 
privileged  people  in  Medina,  and  are  treated  with  great 
respect,  while  the  Medanis  are  not  accustomed  to  being 
dictated  to  in  their  own  town,  which  accounted  for  their 
being  there  in  defiance  of  orders. 

The  rifles  used  by  both  sides,  as  well  as  nearly  all  the 
guns,  fired  black  powder,  and  the  progress  of  the  en¬ 
gagement  could  therefore  be  traced  much  more  easily 
than  is  usual  in  modern  warfare.  In  South  Africa  it  was 
generally  very  difficult  to  get  a  correct  idea  of  the  position 
and  movements  of  the  opposing  forces  at  any  distance 
from  the  scene  of  action.  Here  however  the  long  lines 
of  smoke  indicated  their  respective  positions  clearly  as 
though  marked  on  a  map. 

When  we  arrived  the  Turkish  troops  had  advanced 
about  three  miles  across  the  open  plain  and  were  engaged 
with  the  Bedou  holding  the  scattered  kopjes  and  groves 


MEDINA 


83 


beyond.  The  former  seemed  to  be  firing  volleys  and 
using  a  lot  of  ammunition,  the  latter  merely  sniping  as 
opportunity  offered.  The  artillery  maintained  a  de¬ 
sultory  bombardment,  and  seemed  to  me  to  be  making 
rather  good  practice.  Percussion  shrapnel  and  common 
shell  were  employed — I  never  saw  a  time  fuse.  Some 
distance  to  our  right  was  placed  a  pair  of  guns  firing 
smokeless  powder.  I  had  no  opportunity  of  examining 
these  at  close  quarters,  but  they  were  evidently  pieces  of 
some  size. 

It  was  difficult  to  see  what  good  purpose  these  opera¬ 
tions  were  expected  to  serve.  Shell-fire  at  such  ranges 
could  hardly  be  effective,  and  it  did  not  seem  intended 
to  push  home  the  attack.  Some  of  us  suggested  that 
the  only  way  to  secure  any  decisive  result  would  be  to 
advance  into  the  date  plantations,  drive  the  enemy  out, 
and  occupy  permanently  the  ground  beyond.  The  officer 
in  charge  remarked  that  such  was  the  general  opinion, 
but  unfortunately  no  one  seemed  very  keen  on  doing  it. 
In  point  of  fact,  the  troops  were  mostly  raw  conscripts, 
and  no  match  for  the  enemy  at  anything  like  close 
quarters. 

We  remained  here  for  several  hours,  during  which  no 
perceptible  advance  was  made,  firing  an  occasional  round 
at  any  parties  that  appeared  in  range.  We  knocked  down 
some  date-trees,  but  I  don’t  think  anything  else  was  much 
the  worse  for  it.  Abdul  Wahid  and  the  eunuchs,  who  of 
course  knew  all  about  it,  treated  us  to  long  dissertations 
on  tactics  and  strategy  generally,  and  the  present  cam¬ 
paign  in  particular — if  it  may  be  dignified  by  such  a  name. 
I  began  to  wonder  what  would  happen  when  they  retired, 
which,  obviously,  they  would  have  to  do  soon.  It 
seemed  most  unlikely  that  they  would  be  allowed  to 
do  so  unmolested,  taking  into  consideration  the  known 
character  of  the  enemy  and  the  nature  of  the  ground. 

Thinking  that  we  should  get  a  better  view  from  the 
gate  facing  the  station,  we  climbed  down  the  front  of  the 
wall,  which  was  here  somewhat  broken,  and  walked  along 
till  we  came  to  a  side  gate,  by  which  we  entered  the  town  ; 
then  we  cut  across  till  we  struck  the  main  street  leading 
to  the  station.  We  found  the  great  gate  open  and  a 
large  crowd  of  people  assembled  there  watching.  The 


84  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


half-finished  buildings  had  been  roughly  fortified  and 
were  strongly  held,  as  also  was  the  gate  itself  and  wall 
adjoining.  A  couple  of  guns  had  been  mounted  over  the 
former.  Seeing  by  their  dress  that  a  small  group  sitting 
on  a  bit  of  rising  ground  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  beyond 
were  civilians,  I  saw  no  objection  to  going  forward  and 
joining  them.  Just  outside  the  gate,  between  it  and  the 
station,  were  several  small  cafes  where  many  people  were 
sitting.  We  found  the  group  to  be  five  Mutowifs,  who 
told  us  they  had  been  there  since  the  morning.  They 
were  not  favourably  impressed  by  the  conduct  of  the 
operations  ;  nothing  had  been  done,  they  said,  and  a 
stream  of  killed  and  wounded  men  had  been  passing  all 
day.  We  ourselves  had  encountered  four  on  the  way  out. 
One  of  these  men,  who  was  armed  with  a  rifle,  told  us  he 
belonged  to  the  local  volunteers,  but  had  overslept 
himself  and  had  been  left  behind  that  morning.  These 
volunteers  had  been  raised  some  days  before  from  among 
the  townspeople,  and  rifles  had  been  issued  to  them. 
They  were  supposed  to  help  in  guarding  the  walls  at  night 
and  during  the  day  to  hold  any  ground  that  it  was  con¬ 
sidered  ought  to  be  occupied.  The  idea  was  to  keep 
them  as  far  as  possible  from  actual  contact  with  the 
enemy — owing  to  the  peculiar  state  of  affairs  I  have 
already  described.  They  were  given  no  uniforms,  and 
they  refused  to  alter  in  any  way  their  usual  attire,  which, 
though  picturesque  and  comfortable,  is  not  adapted  for 
campaigning.  The  Medina  town  guard  going  into  action 
resembled  a  crocus  bed  in  April,  and  I  should  say  was 
about  as  easy  to  hit.  I  asked  whether  they  would  accept 
me  as  a  recruit,  and  was  told  there  would  be  no  objection. 
Our  friend  offered  to  take  me  round  and  introduce  me 
to  the  sheikh  of  his  quarter  the  following  day — in  spite  of 
Abdul  Wahid’s  indignant  remonstrances. 

It  was  now  past  five  o’clock,  and  the  retirement  had 
commenced  some  time  before.  So  far  as  we  could  see  the 
troops  were  retreating  in  good  order  and  in  the  con¬ 
ventional  way — sections  of  the  line  doubling  back,  then 
turning  to  protect  by  their  fire  the  retreat  of  the  remainder. 

When  the  line  was  within  half  a  mile  of  us  we  began 
to  think  it  time  to  get  back  ;  but  so  well  ordered  did  all 
appear  that  there  seemed  no  particular  hurry.  Suddenly 


MEDINA 


85 


we  saw  a  wild  commotion  among  the  people  outside  the 
cafes,  who  had  sprung  to  their  feet  and  were  crowding 
back  through  the  gate.  A  man  sitting  there  drinking 
his  coffee  had  been  shot  through  the  head  and  killed 
instantly.  Almost  simultaneously  the  regular  sound  of 
volleys  changed  to  the  rattle  of  independent  firing, 
mingled  with  the  peculiar  double  reports  that  rifles  make 
when  fired  at  you,  and  the  swishing  of  bullets  overhead. 
At  the  same  time  the  men  holding  the  station  buildings 
were  seen  rushing  to  their  places. 

It  became  obvious  that  our  present  position  was  too 
warm  to  be  comfortable.  We  started  therefore  to  go  back, 
but  had  not  reached  the  gate  before  the  firing  swelled 
suddenly  to  a  roar.  Looking  back  we  saw  that  the  troops 
were  now  fairly  running  for  it.  The  rising  ground  behind 
was  alive  with  puffs  of  smoke,  and  while  we  hesitated  a 
crowd  of  men  on  camels  and  horses  came  galloping  over 
the  sky-line  blazing  off  their  guns  and  yelling  furiously. 
The  wildest  panic  now  prevailed  among  the  crowd  still 
trying  to  get  through  the  gate.  Several  were  hit,  others 
were  injured  in  the  crush.  The  guns  over  the  gate  were 
firing  case — or,  more  probably,  reversed  shrapnel — 
and  this,  with  the  musketry  from  the  wall  and  other 
defences,  stayed  the  rout  and  stopped  the  Bedoui  charge, 
while  giving  the  defeated  troops  time  to  reform.  With 
the  exception  of  the  man  with  the  rifle,  who  bravely 
stayed  behind  to  take  his  share  in  the  fight,  we  ourselves 
took  advantage  of  a  lull  that  followed  to  get  back  through 
the  gate,  which  wTas  now  clear. 

Within  the  gates  there  was  a  scene  of  great  confusion. 
Orderlies  were  galloping  hither  and  thither,  bugles  were 
sounding  the  “  alarm  ”  and  “  fall  in  at  the  double.” 
The  crash  of  musketry  and  roar  of  the  cannonade  were 
drowned,  as  we  passed  through,  in  the  tremendous  con¬ 
cussion  of  the  two  pieces  fired  almost  immediately  over 
our  heads,  which  smothered  us  in  dust  and  smoke.  A 
regiment  with  fixed  bayonets  doubled  past  us  and  de¬ 
ployed  before  the  gate.  It  was  getting  quite  exciting. 

Few  pilgrims  were  to  be  seen,  for  most  of  them  had  had 
the  sense  to  go  home  and  leave  the  Medanis,  the  Turks, 
and  the  Bedou  to  settle  their  own  differences.  Such  of 
the  townspeople  as  had  rifles,  however,  were  hurrying  up 


86  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


to  bear  a  hand  in  the  defence.  It  was  the  general  im¬ 
pression  that  the  Bedon  meant  to  storm  the  town. 

Night  was  now  fast  coming  on.  The  enemy  made  no 
further  attempt  to  charge,  but  contented  themselves 
with  rifle  fire  at  as  close  quarters  as  they  could  attain. 
A  little  hand-to-hand  fighting  occurred  in  some  places,  as 
we  heard  afterwards. 

When  darkness  brought  comparative  safety  the  killed 
and  wounded,  as  many  of  them  as  could  be  collected, 
were  brought  in.  The  casualties  on  our  side  were  evi¬ 
dently  not  inconsiderable,  and  the  ’74  Mauser  makes 
nasty  wounds  at  close  quarters.  Of  course  we  only 
retrieved  those  who  had  fallen  near  the  gate.  Among 
them  were  several  of  the  volunteer  “  town  guard.” 

I  hold  no  brief  for  the  people  of  Medina,  and  was  till 
then  rather  inclined  to  share  the  Bedoui  view  of  them. 
But  nothing  in  their  behaviour  in  this  emergency  could 
be  held  to  justify  the  charge  of  effeminacy  or  squeamish¬ 
ness  at  the  sight  of  bloodshed.  The  old  fighting  spirit 
though  atrophied  was  evidently  by  no  means  dead. 
Anger  and  desire  for  revenge  seemed  the  dominating 
emotion  in  those  around  me,  and  many  proposed  a 
general  sally  to  see  if  we  could  not  get  to  handgrips  with 
the  enemy. 

When  it  became  quite  dark  and  the  prospect  of  an 
immediate  assault  was  over,  the  best  thing  to  do  seemed 
to  be  to  go  home.  Abdul  Wahid,  who  said  he  objected 
to  all  bloodshed,  particularly  his  own,  on  general  prin¬ 
ciples,  had  gone  off  some  time  before.  On  the  way  back 
I  encountered  Masaudi  fully  arrayed  for  battle  ;  he  had 
been  looking  for  me  in  various  likely  places  and  had  feared 
that  I  might  be  still  outside  the  gate.  We  returned 
together  to  the  house  to  find  our  host  and  Abdul  Wahid 
preparing  supper. 

Iman  left  us  afterwards  to  help  man  the  wall,  as  every 
respectable  householder  was  doing  that  night.  Masaudi 
and  I  offered  to  accompany  him,  but  having  no  rifles 
allowed  ourselves  to  be  dissuaded.  Being  very  tired,  I 
slept  peacefully  in  spite  of  the  cannonade  which  con¬ 
tinued  through  the  night. 

In  the  morning  we  found  that  the  Bedou  had  drawn 
off  and  resumed  their  former  sniping  of  the  defences  at 


MEDINA 


87 


long  range.  They  had,  of  course,  removed  their  thou¬ 
sands  of  killed  and  wounded.  The  enemy  always  do. 
Three  prisoners  were  all  we  had  to  show  for  the  operations 
of  the  previous  day.  These  were  beheaded,  and  their 
heads  stuck  up  over  the  Damascus  gate  as  a  warning  to 
all  who  should  dare  to  defy  the  majesty  of  the  Sultan’s 
Government.  Unfortunately,  even  had  the  rebels  been 
furnished  with  powerful  glasses,  they  could  scarcely  have 
recognized  them,  and  as  no  one  else  seemed  to  take 
much  interest  in  the  trophy,  they  were  taken  down  and 
buried  in  the  Market  Square,  the  ground  being  then 
defiled  by  the  “  street  arabs,  ”  who  were  hugely  enjoying 
the  whole  affair.  This  last  proceeding  struck  me  as 
childish  and  rather  insanitary.  I  remarked  as  much  to 
another  bystander,  who  said,  “  Very  true,  but  it  will 
annoy  the  Bedou  when  they  hear  about  it.”  Thus  far 
I  agree  with  him — that  if  in  war  any  measures  which 
serve  that  purpose,  short  of  actual  treachery,  were  con¬ 
sidered  allowable,  it  would  be  much  more  satisfactory  in 
the  long  run. 

Whatever  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  Bedou  losses, 
on  this  occasion  there  was  unfortunately  no  doubt  what¬ 
ever  about  our  own — though  I  was  never  able  to  get  at 
the  exact  figure.  Estimates  varied  from  a  hundred  to  a 
thousand.  I  should  put  them  at  two  hundred  at  a  rough 
guess,  and  there  would  be  a  very  high  proportion  of 
killed,  for  all  the  wounded  left  on  the  field  were  murdered 
during  the  night. 

So  far  from  any  discouragement  being  evident  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  these  events,  there  was  now  a  regular  fever 
for  recruiting  among  the  inhabitants.  Every  one  volun¬ 
teered  and  most  were  given  arms,  for  the  authorities 
were  by  now  thoroughly  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the 
town  itself.  The  pilgrims  of  course  stood  aloof.  This 
quarrel  was  no  concern  of  theirs.  The  Mutowifs  however 
began  to  assume  a  very  warlike  appearance — bandoliers, 
bayonets,  pistols,  and  daggers  being  fastened  about  their 
persons  wherever  there  was  room.  The  volunteers  made 
some  sallies  on  their  own  account  during  the  next  few 
days,  and  were  several  times  engaged,  when  I  am  told 
they  fought  very  well.  Such  at  any  rate  was  their 
own  opinion. 


88  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Masaudi  and  I  were  unwilling  to  be  left  out.  In  vain 
Iman  protested  that  we  were  in  no  way  concerned  in  the 
trouble  and  foolish  to  involve  ourselves  in  it.  Having 
by  this  time  made  fairly  certain  that  there  was  no  one  in 
Medina  who  knew  us  both  by  sight,  I  was  no  longer 
nervous  of  being  seen  about  with  him.  We  asked  various 
people  what  we  ought  to  do  in  order  to  enlist,  but  as  few 
other  pilgrims  were  doing  so,  no  one  knew  to  whom  we 
should  apply.  Eventually  we  ran  across  one  of  the 
Turkish  officers  who  had  travelled  with  us  from  Damascus 
and  asked  his  help.  Hearing  what  we  wanted,  he  took 
us  round  to  headquarters  and  managed  to  procure  for 
us  an  interview  with  the  Staff  officer  charged  with  the 
enlistment  of  volunteers.  This  latter  was  sympathetic 
and  rather  amused,  but  regretted  that  he  could  do  nothing 
as  strict  orders  had  recently  been  issued  prohibiting  the 
acceptance  of  any  volunteers  from  among  the  pilgrims, 
who  were  to  be  prevented  as  far  as  was  possible  from 
taking  part  in  the  fighting.  The  reason  for  this  was 
obvious.  If  pilgrims  were  allowed  to  take  part  in  the 
operations  the  Bedou  would  have  a  reasonable  excuse 
for  regarding  them  as  belligerents,  and  might  begin  by 
holding  up  the  train  or  caravans.  The  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment  is  very  anxious  to  appear  before  the  rest  of  Islam 
as  the  effective  authority  and  guarantee  for  peace  and 
safety  of  life  in  Arabia,  and  the  protector  of  the  pilgrims 
during  their  stay  there.  It  would  be  a  serious  scandal  if 
not  only  were  large  numbers  of  pilgrims  prevented  from 
reaching  Medina  at  all,  but  many  of  those  that  did  get 
there  were  killed  or  wounded.  The  survivors  would  be 
likely  to  take  home  with  them  an  unflattering  opinion  as 
to  the  capacity  of  the  Sultan  to  be  guardian  of  the  holy 
places. 

In  any  case  he  would  not  do  what  we  wanted  :  which 
was,  that  he  should  give  us  a  letter  to  one  of  the  sheikhs 
of  the  quarters,  directing  him  to  enrol  us.  He  said, 
however,  that  we  need  not  take  it  to  heart,  for  negotiations 
had  that  morning  been  re-opened,  and  in  all  probability 
there  would  be  no  more  fighting.  With  this  we  had  to 
be  content. 

These  negotiations  were  actually  started,  but  came  to 
nothing.  The  Bedou  demands  were  out  of  all  reason, 


MEDINA 


89 


and  after  their  last  success  the  arrogance  of  their  chiefs 
was  said  to  be  unbearable.  However,  no  further  fighting 
of  a  sensational  nature  took  place  during  our  stay  in 
Medina.  The  enemy  confined  their  activities  to  sniping 
at  the  walls  and  the  Turks  to  artillery  fire  and  the  occupa¬ 
tion  during  the  day  of  commanding  ground  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  town. 

Some  days  later  the  new  governor  arrived,  together 
with  a  couple  of  regiments  and  some  more  guns.  We 
watched  them  detrain  and  I  was  struck  by  their  smart¬ 
ness  and  soldierlike  appearance — very  different  from  the 
troops  we  had  hitherto  encountered.  They  were  armed 
with  the  ’256  Mauser  and  sword  bayonets. 

The  next  week  passed  uneventfully,  but  for  a  squabble 
with  a  certain  Mutowif  named  Hamza,  a  young  Kurd  of 
well-to-do  parents,  whose  speciality  was  Persia,  and  who 
usually  conducted  a  good-sized  party  of  visitors  from 
that  country  during  the  season.  His  father  kept,  I 
believe,  a  very  nice  house  for  their  accommodation. 

The  Persian,  I  must  explain,  has  in  Oriental  countries 
the  same  reputation  as  the  Englishman  on  the  Continent. 
He  is  supposed  to  be  always  a  millionaire,  and  to  pay 
double  for  everything.  Partly  for  this  reason,  and  partly 
owing  to  the  Sunna  and  Sheia  controversy,  which  still 
causes  occasional  unpleasantness,  it  is  not  very  unusual 
for  Persians  to  pretend  to  be  Arabs  during  their  stay 
in  these  places.  Hamza  and  his  father  kept  a  bookshop 
in  the  street  leading  to  the  Haram,  at  which  I  had  several 
times  made  small  purchases.  For  some  reason  they 
got  it  into  their  heads  that  I  was  a  Persian,  and  that 
Abdul  Wahid  by  acting  as  my  guide  was  robbing  them 
of  their  lawful  perquisites.  Hamza  was  always  bothering 
me  about  this  whenever  we  met,  and  talking  to  me  in 
Persian.  In  vain  I  assured  him  that  I  did  not  understand 
a  single  word.  One  day  when  passing  their  shop,  very 
foolishly  and  by  way  of  a  joke,  I  called  out  the  Persian 
greeting  “  Khuda  ha’fiz,”  the  only  two  words  I  knew. 
My  pronunciation  must  have  been  unexpectedly  good, 
for  from  that  moment  nothing  would  convince  them  that 
they  were  wrong  in  their  original  surmise.  It  so  hap¬ 
pened  that  in  consequence  of  troubles  in  Persia  itself, 
the  quarrel  with  the  Bedou,  and  the  fearful  outbreak  of 


90  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


cholera  the  year  before,  very  few  Persians  had  come 
to  the  pilgrimage,  and  Hamza  had  got  no  one  at  all. 
This  of  course  made  him  all  the  more  annoyed  at  being, 
as  he  considered,  defrauded.  As  a  matter  of  fact  I 
rather  liked  him,  and  would  gladly  have  stayed  with 
them  had  it  been  possible.  One  day  he  stopped  Abdul 
Wahid  in  the  street  and  began  violently  abusing  him. 
The  latter  told  him  to  go  to  blazes.  After  this  he  and 
his  father  were  constantly  pointing  me  out  to  people, 
and  otherwise  making  themselves  objectionable,  and  me 
conspicuous,  in  a  manner  that  obviously  had  to  be  stopped. 

After  consultation  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  decided  to  take 
the  bull  by  the  horns.  We  went  down  to  their  shop  and 
talked  to  them.  I  said  my  visit  was  being  spoilt  by 
this  continual  pestering  about  belonging  to  a  country  I 
had  never  been  to  in  my  life,  and  about  a  language  of 
which  I  knew  no  more  than  they  had  heard.  I  said  I 
was  going  straight  to  the  Sheikh  of  the  Haram  to  com¬ 
plain,  and  to  him  I  should  show  my  passport  :  but  where 
I  came  from  was  no  business  of  theirs  !  With  that  we 
walked  off,  apparently  to  carry  out  what  I  had  threatened. 
As  we  anticipated  they  at  once  knuckled  under.  Hamza 
ran  after  us,  apologized  profusely,  and  implored  me  to 
return.  When  I  at  last  consented,  his  father  also  ex¬ 
plained  that  they  had  meant  no  harm,  and  if  I  really 
assured  them  I  was  not  a  Persian  they  of  course  accepted 
my  statement — and  so  on.  Had  I  done  as  I  said,  Hamza, 
as  he  well  knew,  would  have  got  into  serious  trouble. 
The  sheikh  was  not  the  sort  of  man  to  put  up  with  any 
nonsense,  and  it  pays  the  authorities  to  supervise  these 
guides  and  give  ear  to  complaints  concerning  them.  In 
my  own  case  of  course  the  threat  to  complain  was  merely 
bluff. 

We  eventually  made  it  up,  and  I  promised  to  let 
Hamza  take  us  round  some  day  to  the  Bakeia  and  the 
other  places,  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  get  there. 

We  were  able  to  do  so  a  few  days  later.  No  fight¬ 
ing  had  occurred  on  that  side  of  the  town  lately, 
and  in  response  to  many  urgent  requests  the  gates  of 
the  cemetery  were  at  last  thrown  open.  Hamza  came 
for  us  after  lunch  and  we  visited  with  him  all  the  tombs 
there.  A  description  of  them  would  be  tedious.  The 


MEDINA 


91 


outstanding  feature  of  them  all  is  the  “  shoddy  ”  character 
of  the  buildings  and  state  of  neglect  in  which  they  are 
allowed  to  remain.  This  is  indeed  surprising  when  one 
reflects  on  the  millions  that  have  been  spent  on  religious 
edifices  in  other  Moslem  countries — the  magnificent 
mosques  of  Cairo  and  Damascus,  the  golden  spires  of 
Kerbela,  and  the  profuse  extravagance  that  Indian 
travellers  describe.  Yet  here,  in  the  very  birthplace  of 
the  religion,  the  tombs  of  the  Prophet’s  wives,  Ibrahim 
his  infant  son,  Hassan  his  grandson,  and  many  others 
whose  names  are  never  mentioned  without  a  blessing, 
are  very  inferior  in  size  and  beauty,  and  kept  in  worse 
repair  than  many  private  vaults  in  other  places.  I  can 
offer  no  explanation  of  this  anomaly. 

We  found  Hamza  a  very  good  guide.  He  recited  the 
various  “  Ziyarahs  ”  *  for  us  with  good  voice  and  pro¬ 
nunciation,  and  was  able  to  answer  every  question  we 
put  to  him.  He  had  an  annoying  and  intermittent 
stammer  in  conversation. 

We  were  not  allowed  to  enter  the  tombs  of  any  of  the 
women,  for  they  were  “  occupied  ”  by  female  guardians 
who  had  established  themselves  there  to  prevent  such 
impropriety.  By  them  we  were  compelled  to  perform 
our  visitations  standing  outside.  The  whole  round  took 
several  hours. 

The  following  day  Hamza  took  us  to  some  places  of 
interest  on  the  other  side  of  the  town — among  them  the 
tomb  of  Abdullah — the  Prophet’s  father.  There  is  a 
difficulty  here  which  has  caused  some  trouble  to  the 
Moslem  doctors.  Seeing  that  Abdullah  died  when  the 
Prophet  was  a  child,  obviously  he  could  not  have  been  a 
Moslem — and  he  was  in  fact  an  idolater.  Ought  he 
therefore  to  be  treated  as  a  saint  ?  Hamza  told  us  that 
the  real  truth  was  that  the  Prophet  had  prayed  one  night 
that  his  father  might  be  saved.  On  the  instant  he  stood 
before  him  alive,  repeated  the  creed,  accepted  his  son’s 
religion  as  the  one  true  faith,  and  returned  to  his  tomb. 
Mohammedans,  by  the  way,  believe  that  everything  must 
die  before  the  Day  of  Judgment,  including  even  the  Angel 
of  Death  himself.  Nothing  in  the  present  universe  is 
permanent,  except  the  deity. 

*  Recitations  on  visiting  a  tomb. 


92  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


We  told  Hamza  that  this  very  indigestible  bit  of  in¬ 
formation  was  a  little  more  than  we  could  comfortably 
absorb.  He  replied  that  he  did  not  believe  it  himself, 
but  that  it  was  a  pretty  story,  got  over  the  above  difficulty, 
and  could  not  at  any  rate  be  disproved.  ^Therefore  why 
bother  ?  His  comments  often  displayed  a  certain 
philosophy,  and  were  not  infrequently  rather  witty. 

We  went  on  to  see  the  remains  of  the  celebrated  trench 
dug  by  the  Prophet’s  followers  for  the  defence  of  the 
town  during  his  war  with  the  Koreish.  Most  people 
profess  to  be  very  sceptical  about  this,  but  like  Hamza, 
I  see  no  particular  reason  for  disbelieving  in  it.  It  is 
unlikely  that  the  site  of  so  memorable  a  work  would  be 
forgotten. 

Another  day  we  visited  two  small  mosques  about  a  mile 
from  the  northern  gate.  Here  we  ran  some  risk  of 
attracting  some  hostile  marksman’s  undesirable  atten¬ 
tions,  but  nothing  happened.  In  one  of  these  mosques 
is  buried  a  cousin  of  the  Prophet,  whose  name  I  have 
forgotten  ;  in  the  other  he  used  to  pray  the  evening  prayer 
after  watching  coursing  matches,  an  amusement  to  which 
he  was  apparently  much  addicted.  Mohammed  may 
add  to  his  other  distinctions  that  of  being  the  only 
prophet  who  was  anything  of  a  sportsman — and  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  word,  for  he  strictly  prohibited  all  gambling 
on  the  results  of  the  races. 

Hamza  was  much  addicted  to  blacking  the  inside  of 
his  eyelids  with  “  kohl,”  a  form  of  powdered  antimony, 
which  was  a  favourite  trick  among  the  Arabs  even  before 
the  time  of  the  Prophet,  who  himself  is  said  to  have  used 
it.*  They  say  it  is  an  excellent  preservative  of  the  sight 
and  preventive  of  ophthalmia.  I  tried  it  several  times 
myself,  but  eventually  came  to  the  conclusion  I  was 
looking  too  much  like  a  chorus  girl.  Abdul  Wahid 
applied  an  enormous  quantity  and  nearly  blinded  himself. 
He  then  tried  to  wash  it  out  with  a  sponge,  and  thereby 
coloured  the  whole  of  his  face  a  bright  purple,  which  he 
spent  the  rest  of  the  day  trying  to  scrape  off  with  a  piece 

*  Mohammed  is  related  to  have  said  that  the  “  kohl  stick  55  is  one 
of  the  three  things  a  man  should  refuse  to  lend  to  his  friend  ;  the  others 
being  his  toothbrush  and  his  wife.  The  origin  of  this  little  joke  no 
doubt  dates  back  to  high  antiquity. 


MEDINA  93 

of  bath  brick  with  only  partial  success,  as  the  stuff 
sticks  like  death. 

We  had  now  been  three  weeks  in  Medina  and  began 
to  think  of  moving  on.  We  had  originally  intended  to 
travel  to  Mecca  with  the  Syrian  mahmal,  or,  in  case  we 
got  tired  of  it  before,  with  any  caravan  that  might  be 
going.  In  ordinary  years  there  are  caravans  at  this 
season  every  few  days,  but  in  consequence  of  the  war 
none  had  started  since  our  arrival  and  in  the  opinion 
of  many  people  none  were  likely  to.  It  was  even  said 
that  the  mahmal  would  go  round  by  sea,  a  thing  never 
before  known  to  happen. 

All  this  made  me  rather  nervous  about  remaining  in 
Medina.  I  had  a  strong  suspicion  that  the  Bedoui  atti¬ 
tude  of  neutrality  as  regards  the  pilgrims  would  not  last 
much  longer,  especially  if  any  aggressive  operations  were 
undertaken  by  the  newly  arrived  troops — of  which  there 
was  much  talk.  We  might  at  any  time  find  ourselves 
really  besieged  and  unable  to  get  out  at  all.  I  by  no 
means  fancied  missing  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  which 
was  my  principal  objectif. 

Several  courses  were  open  to  us  :  we  might  wait  at 
Medina  and  take  our  chance  of  a  caravan  to  Mecca,  or  go 
with  a  caravan  to  Yembu  and  from  there  by  sea  to 
Jiddah  ;  or  we  might  return  to  Damascus.  The  last 
had  the  advantage  of  being  safe  and  certain,  but  I  did 
not  much  like  the  idea  of  the  train  journey  over  again, 
nor  did  I  want  to  miss  the  experience  of  caravan- travelling 
in  Arabia.  There  was  talk  of  a  caravan  leaving  for 
Yembu  in  the  near  future,  but  nothing  definite  was 
known  about  it.  Every  one  whom  we  consulted  advised 
us  differently.  Some  laughed  at  my  apprehensions  and 
assured  us  that  it  was  inconceivable  that  we  should  be 
prevented  from  making  the  pilgrimage.  There  was  a 
limit  even  to  Bedoui  audacity.  Others  advised  us  to  get 
out  while  there  was  yet  time. 

Events  however  took  place  which  hastened  our  de¬ 
cision.  Masaudi  came  back  to  the  house  one  day  at 
lunch-time  bringing  tidings  of  a  distinctly  unpleasant 
nature.  Standing  in  the  mosque  just  before  the  noonday 
prayer,  he  had  suddenly  felt  a  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and 
turned  to  find  himself  face  to  face  with  a  party  of  five 


94  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Mombasa  Swahilis,  all  of  whom  knew  him  intimately, 
and  what  was  worse,  two  of  whom  knew  me,  having  been 
several  times  to  my  house  in  Mombasa  on  business  con¬ 
nected  with  land  purchase.  Of  course  he  was  over¬ 
whelmed  with  greetings  and  questions.  When  had  he 
arrived,  whom  was  he  staying  with,  how  had  he  got  on  in 
England,  and  where  had  he  left  me  ? 

Masaudi  displayed  considerable  presence  of  mind.  He 
had  left  me,  he  said,  in  England.  Having  saved  money, 
he  thought  he  would  never  get  a  better  opportunity  to 
perform  the  pilgrimage  than  the  present.  Arriving  in 
Egypt,  he  had  signed  on  as  a  sort  of  servant  to  some  rich 
Egyptian  pilgrims  with  whom  he  was  living.  In  return 
for  this  information  they  told  him  they  had  arrived  from 
Yembu  two  days  before,  and  were  staying  with  the 
Zanzibar  Mutowif ,  whom  they  did  not  like  at  all,  nor  his 
house  either. 

After  the  prayer  they  all  walked  back  together : 
Masaudi  dropped  his  string  of  beads  on  leaving  the 
mosque.  They  asked  where  his  house  was.  He  pro¬ 
mised  to  show  them,  then,  half-way  up  the  street,  he 
suddenly  remembered  the  beads,  bolted  back  to  look 
for  them,  and  speedily  managed  to  lose  himself  in  the 
crowd.  Then  he  returned  to  the  house  by  a  circuitous 
route. 

I  was  not  at  first  inclined  to  attach  very  much  im¬ 
portance  to  all  this.  I  did  not  think  that  any  of  them 
would  recognize  me  if  we  met  accidentally  in  the  street 
or  mosque.  Of  course  I  should  have  to  be  very  careful, 
for  the  future,  never  to  be  seen  about  with  Masaudi,  and 
he  must  avoid  bringing  them  to  the  house  at  all  costs. 
Still  I  quite  realized  that  we  were  in  some  danger,  and 
evidently  it  would  not  do  to  travel  to  Mecca  in  the  same 
caravan  with  them.  Abdul  Wahid  however  took  a  very 
serious  view.  He  said  our  lives  were  no  longer  worth  a 
moment’s  purchase.  All  along  he  had  been  very  much 
opposed  to  bringing  Masaudi  for  this  very  reason. 

As  good  luck  would  have  it,  that  evening  the  town 
crier  was  announcing  that  the  caravan  would  start  for 
Yembu  the  next  day  but  one.  Here  was  an  escape  from 
the  impasse  that  suited  us  all,  and  we  at  once  decided 
to  avail  ourselves  of  it. 


MEDINA 


95 


The  next  day  was  spent  in  preparation.  Abdul  Wahid 
arranged  for  three  camels,  one  of  them  to  carry  a  shug- 
duf,  the  other  two  for  luggage.  We  bought  the  food  we 
should  require — rice,  dates,  and  dry  bread.  We  arranged 
to  take  with  us  Jaffa  the  Persian  as  cook,  and  his  brother- 
in-law  Ibrahim,  also  a  Persian,  as  general  servant.  I 
cashed  my  cheque  for  £100,  paid  a  few  bills  and  our  rent, 
and  bought  a  rifle  and  fifty  rounds  of  ammunition.  By 
the  afternoon,  all  being  in  readiness,  we  sent  for  porters 
to  take  our  luggage  to  the  place  where  the  caravan  was 
parked.  The  first  to  arrive  no  sooner  saw  the  interior  of 
our  room  than  he  gave  a  yell,  and  rushed  headlong  down 
the  stairs  and  out  into  the  street.  Astonished  at  his 
behaviour,  we  ran  to  the  window  and  shouted  to  him  to 
know  what  the  mischief  was  wrong.  He  said  he  had 
not  been  hired  to  carry  a  corpse  to  the  cemetery.  We 
gazed  at  each  other  in  utter  bewilderment,  then,  looking 
back  into  the  room,  a  solution  of  the  mystery  dawned 
on  us.  Our  folded  tent  lying  on  the  boxes  did  look  ex¬ 
actly  like  a  body  swathed  for  burial.  We  told  what  had 
happened  to  the  other  porters,  who  had  turned  up. 
They  showed  great  appreciation  of  the  joke,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  the  runaway  has  had  to  put  up  with  chaff  on 
the  subject  ever  since. 

We  carted  our  things  down  to  the  big  square  where  the 
caravan  was  parked,  where  we  were  to  pass  the  night. 
Leaving  Masaudi  in  charge,  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  returned 
to  the  Haram  to  perform  the  ceremony  known  as  the 
“  leave-taking.”  This  is  practically  a  repetition  of 
former  recitals  before  the  tomb,  but  it  is  considered  a 
specially  appropriate  occasion  for  private  prayers,  which, 
we  were  assured,  would  undoubtedly  receive  attention. 
Hamza  conducted  us  through  the  ceremony.  x\t  parting 
we  gave  him  five  dollars,  with  which  he  was  quite  satisfied. 
He  followed  us  with  many  good  wishes  and  prayers  for 
our  safety,  and  said  he  hoped  we  would  stay  with  him 
next  time  we  came.  As  we  passed  out  for  the  last  time  I 
could  not  help  saying  to  myself  that  at  any  rate  we  were 
safely  out  of  Medina.  As  is  usual  with  self-congratula¬ 
tions,  mine  were  premature. 

It  was  dark,  but  some  shops  were  still  open.  As 
we  walked  down  to  our  bivouac  it  suddenly  occurred  to 


06  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


me  that  I  would  buy  some  chocolate.  Telling  Abdul 
Wahid  to  wait  a  minute,  I  walked  back  to  a  shop  where 
I  had  seen  some.  Standing  in  front  of  it  were  two  guides. 
As  I  came  up  one  of  them  remarked,  “  See,  here  he  is.” 
I  myself  was  evidently  the  subject  of  their  conversation, 
whatever  it  might  have  been.  While  I  was  buying  my 
chocolate  I  heard  them  carrying  on  a  whispered  con¬ 
sultation.  As  I  turned  to  go  they  came  up  to  me.  One 
said,  “  Look  here,  what  country  do  you  come  from  ? 
We  know  you  are  not  a  Bagdadi !  Why  all  this  mystery 
about  it  ?  ”  (My  translation  is  of  a  somewhat  free  order.) 
I  said,  “  What  the  devil  has  it  got  to  do  with  you  ?  ” 
“  Much,”  they  replied.  “  Each  of  us  has  a  right  to  a 
particular  country,  and  we  want  to  know  which  you 
belong  to.”  I  told  them  so  far  as  I  was  concerned  they 
could  go  on  wanting,  and  walked  away.  They  came 
after  me  and  one  caught  me  by  the  arm.  I  threw  him 
oli  roughly  and  told  him  what  I  thought  his  mother  must 
have  been,  while  he  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  whole 
of  my  ancestors  were  unbelievers  and  addicted  to  a 
certain  vice.  Though  the  first  part  of  this  accusation 
was  quite  true,  I  began  to  get  angry.  A  passage  of 
arms  appeared  imminent,  and  weapons  were  drawn  on 
both  sides.  At  sight  of  my  automatic  Colt  the  bystanders 
hurriedly  took  cover,  being  aware,  possibly  by  experience, 
of  the  somewhat  comprehensive  effects  of  that  weapon. 
At  this  juncture,  by  the  special  mercy  of  Providence,  our 
late  landlord  Iman  came  down  the  street  accompanied 
by  two  friends,  and  promptly  intervened.  A  crowd  was 
fast  collecting,  but  fortunately  the  original  cause  of  the 
quarrel  had  been  by  now  quite  lost  to  view.  In  the  end 
we  were  read  a  lecture  on  the  evils  of  brawling  in  the 
streets,  and  reminded  that  if  the  watch  happened  to  come 
along  and  find  us  thus  engaged,  we  should  suffer  for  it. 

Having  once  cooled  down  a  little,  we  were  neither 
of  us  sorry  to  forgo  our  “  satisfaction.”  They  knew 
perfectly  well  they  were  in  the  wrong,  and  anyway,  a 
beating  and  imprisonment  would  scarcely  be  compensated 
for  by  the  knowledge  that  I  was  getting  the  same,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  chance  of  absorbing  some  *450  expand¬ 
ing  bullets  into  their  systems  during  the  struggle.  So 
we  drew  off  snarling  at  each  other. 


MEDINA 


97 


On  the  way  to  the  square  Iman  asked  me  what  the 
row  had  been  about.  I  told  him,  and  he  seemed  rather 
puzzled.  No  doubt  by  this  time  he  had  an  inkling  as 
to  the  true  state  of  the  case. 

Arrived  at  our  belongings,  we  took  leave  of  him  and  his 
son  Ibrahim.  I  had  given  Masaudi  a  silver  watch  to 
present  to  the  latter,  who  was  quite  delighted  with  it.  I 
think  they  were  all  really  sorry  to  part  with  us,  and  Iman 
very  kindly  said  he  only  hoped  he  would  have  the  same 
good  fortune  with  his  next  tenants. 

Masaudi,  relieved  of  his  sentry-go,  hurried  off  to  the 
Haram  to  perform  his  final  devotions.  On  his  return,  we 
ate  a  frugal  meal  and  turned  in  as  best  we  could. 

The  square  was  now  crammed  with  luggage,  camels, 
shugdufs,  and  the  other  apparatus  of  a  caravan.  There 
was  scarcely  room  to  move  about,  and  I  was  at  a  loss 
to  imagine  how  we  should  get  off  in  the  morning.  It 
looked  as  if  it  would  take  days  to  sort  out. 

We  passed  a  very  cold  and  uncomfortable  night.  The 
shugduf  in  which  I  was  sleeping,  or  trying  to  sleep, 
collapsed  at  about  one  a.m.  A  shugduf  is  a  sort  of  howdah 
that  fits  on  to  the  camel’s  back.  It  consists  of  two 
trays  on  a  wooden  framework,  surmounted  by  a  roof 
of  canvas  or  sacking.  The  two  passengers  sit  or  lie 
one  on  each  side,  the  luggage  fitting  in  between.  The 
motion  of  the  whole  arrangement  as  the  camel  lumbers 
over  the  rough  veld  is  comparable  only  to  a  torpedo  boat 
in  a  hurricane.  It  is  necessary  for  both  passengers  to 
be  approximately  the  same  weight  and  to  get  in  and  out 
at  exactly  the  same  moment— otherwise  the  whole  thing 
tips  over.  If  the  camel  stumbles,  or  comes  down,  or 
kneels  down  unexpectedly,  the  travellers  leave  hurriedly 
over  the  bows,  accompanied  by  their  belongings  in  a  sort 
of  cascade.  When  the  shugduf  to  which  this  happens  is 
occupied  by  a  family  party,  consisting  of  a  fat  Turkish 
official,  his  wife,  and  three  children,  all  dressed  in  the 
Ihram,  the  effect  is  peculiarly  exhilarating  from  the  on¬ 
looker’s  point  of  view.  Other  kinds  of  camel  furniture 
comprise,  a  litter  slung  on  a  pole, like  a  sedan  chair, between 
two  camels,  fore  and  aft,  and  a  thing  like  a  tea-tray  roped 
on  to  the  cam  el’s  back.  The  former  is  used  mostly  by  ladies 
of  means,  and  is  said  to  be  quite  comfortable  ;  the  latter 

7 


98  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


by  people  who  cannot  afford  a  shugduf.  Many  travellers 
ride  on  top  of  their  baggage,  which  is  really  the  most 
comfortable  way  of  all.  A  few  have  proper  riding 
camels  and  saddles,  but  so  slow  is  the  pace  of  the  caravan 
that  there  is  no  real  advantage  in  this. 

The  luggage  is  so  arranged  that  the  weight  is  dis¬ 
tributed  evenly  on  either  side  of  the  camel’s  back.  Boxes 
are  usually  sewn  up  in  sacking  covers  and  roped  together, 
so  that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  get  at  them  till  the 
end  of  the  journey. 

We  were  aroused  at  daybreak  by  the  artillery  practice, 
to  which  we  had  by  now  become  so  accustomed  that  we 
hardly  noticed  it.  Great  confusion  of  course  prevailed 
at  first,  but  in  a  wonderfully  short  time,  all  considered, 
the  camels  were  loaded  up,  and  we  were  able  to  move 
off.  We  left  the  town  by  the  northern  gate,  and  halted 
outside  while  the  line  of  march  was  arranged. 

The  camels  are  the  property  of  Bedou  Arabs  who 
make  their  living  by  letting  them  out  for  hire,  and  con¬ 
ducting  them  on  the  road.  There  is  a  regular  organiza¬ 
tion  among  them,  supervised  by  the  Government.  There 
is  a  fixed  scale  of  charges  annually  agreed  upon,  which 
may  not  be  exceeded  except  in  extraordinary  circum¬ 
stances.  In  each  town  there  are  sheikhs  responsible  to 
the  local  authority  for  a  certain  number  of  camels  and 
men.  These  sheikhs  issue  tickets  to  the  pilgrims  which 
are  collected  at  the  other  end  and  serve  as  proof  of  their 
safe  arrival.  Complaints  as  to  bad  camels  or  misbe¬ 
haviour  on  the  part  of  their  conductors  are  made  through 
the  same  channel.  These  arrangements  reflect  no  little 
credit  on  the  Turkish  administration,  and  have  done 
much  to  diminish  abuses.  This  particular  year,  however, 
they  counted  for  very  little,  owing  to  the  chaos  caused 
by  the  disturbances  in  progress. 

The  big  caravans  in  ordinary  years,  more  especially 
the  one  convoying  the  mahmal  to  Mecca,  are  very  well 
organized.  They  have  a  large  escort  with  guns,  scouts 
out  by  day,  and  outposts  at  night.  A  proper  market 
is  established  every  evening  in  the  middle  of  the 
camp,  where  food  and  firewood  are  sold  according 
to  an  approved  tariff.  A  magistrate  tries  and  punishes 
criminals  on  the  spot,  and  decides  disputes.  Any  pilgrim 


MEDINA 


99 


having  cause  to  complain  of  his  camel-men  finds  a  ready 
hearing.  Halts  are  made  for  prayers  and  bugle-calls 
give  timely  warning  of  the  hour  of  starting.  Everything 
is  done  with  almost  military  precision.  These  caravans 
however  are  so  expensive  that  they  are  available  only 
to  the  wealthier  class  of  pilgrims.  Twenty  or  even  thirty 
pounds  per  passenger  may  he  asked. 

Our  caravan  was  of  a  very  different  description.  The 
travellers  were  nearly  all  poor  people,  for  the  reason  that 
few  others  had  come  to  Medina  this  year,  and  those  that 
had  were  going  round  by  Damascus  rather  than  face 
the  journey  to  Yembu.  This  particular  route  is  supposed 
to  be  the  worst  in  the  Hedjaz,  that  is  to  say,  it  is  the  most 
dangerous  and  involves  the  hardest  trekking.  It  has,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  merit  of  cheapness,  and  does  not 
involve  wearing  the  Ihram,  which  is  necessary  if  leaving 
Medina  for  Mecca.  We  had  no  escort  or  police  arrange¬ 
ments  of  any  kind,  and  no  market.  Each  traveller 
had  to  carry  his  own  provisions  and  water.  We  must 
have  numbered  about  five  thousand  camels  all  told.  In 
charge  of  the  whole  was  a  Bedoui  sheikh,  with  about 
twenty  retainers,  on  fast  riding  camels.  All  the  camel- 
men,  of  whom  on  the  average  there  was  one  to  every 
three  camels,  were  armed  with  rifles  and  swords.  Most 
of  the  pilgrims  carried  weapons  of  some  sort. 


CHAPTER  V 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBTJ 

We  finally  got  off  at  about  ten  o’clock,  after  having  been 
inspected  by  a  Turkish  officer  who  countersigned  our 
tickets.  Ibrahim’s  father,  who  had  many  times  travelled 
this  route,  came  with  us  as  far  as  the  gate  and  gave  us 
sound  advice  at  parting.  He  warned  us  to  be  very  careful 
with  the  camel-men,  and  not  to  be  bullied  into  giving 
them  more  money  than  the  deposit  they  had  already 
received,  and  on  no  account  to  leave  the  caravan  on  the 
march  or  get  near  the  outskirts  of  it  at  night.  He  recom¬ 
mended  us  to  put  all  our  belongings  inside  the  tent  and 
sleep  with  one  eye  open  and  weapons  handy. 

We  found  ourselves  very  nearly  at  the  head  of  the 
caravan  ;  at  starting  there  were  not  a  dozen  camels  in 
front  of  us.  Behind  us  the  line  stretched  for  miles.  We 
had  been  going  an  hour  before  the  last  part  had  left 
Medina.  Masaudi  and  Abdul  Wahid  occupied  the  shug- 
duf,  I  rode  the  best  of  the  baggage-camels,  the  one 
carrying  the  most  comfortable  load.  Ibrahim  and  Jaffa 
took  it  in  turn  to  ride  the  other.  Our  camel-man,  whose 
name  was  Saad,  was  a  small,  wiry  Bedoui,  almost  black 
from  exposure  to  wind  and  sun.  His  features  were  of  a 
purely  Semitic  caste,  free  from  the  slightest  suggestion 
of  African  admixture.  But  for  his  dress  he  might  readily 
have  passed  for  a  Boer  transport-rider.  In  Medina  he 
was  all  politeness  and  full  of  promises  of  what  he  would 
do  for  us  on  the  journey,  but  this  demeanour  very  soon 
underwent  a  change  when  once  we  were  fairly  out  of  the 
town. 

The  last  caravan  which  had  travelled  from  Yembu  to 
Medina  had  been  forced  to  make  a  wide  detour  across 
country  to  avoid  a  band  of  robbers  that  had  assembled 

100 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU 


101 


on  the  road  for  the  purpose  of  plundering  it.  This  must 
have  been  very  unpleasant  for  the  wretched  pilgrims,  who 
had  to  walk  for  about  eight  hours  at  a  stretch,  the  ground 
being  too  rough  to  ride.  The  road  itself  was  bad  enough 
in  all  conscience.  We  could  only  hope  that  no  such 
necessity  would  arise  this  time,  but  we  were  told  it  was 
by  no  means  unlikely.  About  three  miles  from  Medina 
we  turned  west,  crossed  the  railway,  and  thenceforward 
were  slowly  ascending.  We  passed  quite  unmolested 
through  the  enemy’s  lines  ;  not  a  shot  was  fired  in  our 
direction,  though  shells  from  the  forts  were  bursting  less 
than  half  a  mile  to  our  left.  By  three  o’clock  we  had 
entered  the  mountains  and  Medina  was  no  longer  visible. 
An  hour  later  we  caught  another  and  final  glimpse  of  the 
dome  and  minarets  of  the  Haram  just  appearing  through 
a  cleft  in  the  hills. 

We  plodded  slowly  and  steadily  onwards,  the  road 
getting  rougher  and  the  country  more  rugged  with  every 
step  we  took.  At  times  we  got  off  and  walked  for  a  bit — 
to  stretch  our  legs  and  rest  from  the  monotonous  and 
fatiguing  motion  of  the  camel.  By  sundown,  when  we 
halted  for  five  minutes  for  the  evening  prayer,  we  had 
ascended  quite  a  thousand  feet.  As  night  fell  the  cold 
became  severe,  and  a  keen  wind  sprang  up  that  chilled 
us  to  the  bone.  Still  ascending,  we  stumbled  along  what 
was  more  like  the  bed  of  a  torrent  than  a  road.  For¬ 
tunately  there  was  a  good  moon  or  there  would  have  been 
many  accidents. 

The  pilgrims,  who  had  been  very  quiet  all  day,  now 
tried  to  keep  up  their  spirits  by  singing,  shouting,  and 
firing  guns.  When  first  this  began,  I  made  sure  we  were 
attacked  ;  but  apparently  it  is  quite  a  common  way  of 
passing  the  time.  The  whole  way  to  Yembu  there  was 
a  ripple  of  shots  up  and  down  the  line.  Some  people  say 
the  idea  is  to  frighten  the  Bedou  robbers  by  showing  them 
that  the  pilgrims  are  armed.  I  should  think  it  was  very 
much  more  likely  to  draw  on  an  attack.  By  eleven  o’clock 
most  of  them  were  too  tired  and  hungry  even  for  this  ; 
by  midnight  I  began  to  wonder  if  we  were  ever  going  to 
stop.  We  had  been  fourteen  hours  continuously  under 
way  and  had  eaten  nothing  since  the  morning  except  a 
few  dates,  which  we  had  to  swallow  as  best  we  could  on 


102  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


the  camel’s  back,  a  performance  by  no  means  easy,  and 
apt  to  give  one  violent  indigestion. 

At  half-past  twelve  the  sheikh  in  charge  trotted  for¬ 
ward,  as  we  joyfully  heard,  to  select  a  camping-ground. 
A  few  minutes  later  the  camels  in  front  were  halted,  and 
we  came  to  a  standstill  in  a  wide  valley  between  high 
mountains.  The  camp  was  formed  in  the  simplest  way. 
The  leading  camels,  kneeling  down,  formed  a  nucleus 
around  which  the  remainder  collected  as  they  came  up, 
thus  forming  an  encampment  roughly  circular  in  shape 
and  packed  into  the  smallest  space  possible. 

Great  was  now  the  confusion,  and  lively  the  scene. 
The  darkness  and  silence  of  our  march  for  the  last  hour, 
broken  only  by  occasional  curses  and  lamentations,  and 
the  shrill  cries  of  the  camel-men  to  their  beasts,  was 
changed  in  a  moment  for  a  veritable  pandemonium — 
the  grunts  of  the  camels  as  they  were  made  to  kneel,  the 
shouts  and  orders  in  a  dozen  languages,  the  mingled 
cries,  complaints,  and  laughter.  A  thousand  camp-fires 
sprang  into  being  as  if  by  magic,  and  lit  up  the  scene. 
All  busied  themselves  with  the  important  matter  of 
preparing  the  much-needed  food.  Personally  I  was 
so  numbed  with  cold  that  at  first  I  could  hardly  stand. 
We  had  brought,  fortunately,  a  good  supply  of  fire¬ 
wood,  and  soon  had  a  blaze.  Our  two  servants  and 
Masaudi  proved  very  adept  at  getting  things  straight, 
and  our  tent  pitched,  while  Abdul  Wahid  got  the  tea- 
things  out  and  the  kettle  on  the  fire.  Saad,  the  camel- 
man,  and  two  others  conducting  a  party  of  Egyptians, 
had  collected  their  camels  in  a  ring  with  their  heads 
pointing  inwards ;  they  themselves  were  sitting  back  to 
back  in  the  centre,  feeding  their  brutes  with  hay  made 
into  ropes.  Each  camel  got  his  exact  share  and  no  more  ; 
all  seemed  equally  dissatisfied  with  it,  and  disgusted  with 
the  entire  proceedings. 

These  Bedou  camel-men  astonished  me  by  their  in¬ 
difference  to  the  cold.  Clad  only  in  their  thin  cotton 
clothes,  they  showed  not  the  slightest  desire  to  come  to 
the  fire,  but  sat  among  their  camels,  laughing  and  talking, 
apparently  neither  hungry  nor  thirsty*  cold  nor  tired, 
though  they  had  walked  fourteen  hours  on  end,  the 
temperature  was  near  freezing-point,  and  they  had  eaten 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU 


103 


nothing  all  day.  No  wonder  they  are  good  campaigners. 
No  civilized  soldiers  could  stand  this  sort  of  thing  for  long. 

While  I  was  trying  to  get  warm  a  man  stumbled  against 
me  and  nearly  knocked  me  into  the  fire.  Turning  round, 

I  was  shocked  to  see  a  figure  stained  almost  from  head  to 
foot  with  the  blood  from  a  tremendous  gash  in  the  head, 
obviously  a  sword-cut.  He  asked  for  water,  and  I  went 
into  the  tent  to  get  him  some,  but  returning  with  it  found 
him  gone.  We  heard  the  next  day  that  no  less  than  six  men 
had  been  murdered  that  night  and  many  others  wounded, 
and  so  it  went  on  till  we  reached  Yembu.  These  unfor¬ 
tunates  were  mostly  people  who  could  not  afford  camels, 
and  so  had  to  perform  the  journey  on  foot.  Straying 
from  the  main  body  in  search  of  firewood,  they  get  picked 
up  by  the  marauders  hanging  on  the  flanks,  who  seize 
every  opportunity  to  plunder  such  stragglers  of  their 
miserable  possessions,  and  kill  unhesitatingly  any  who 
resist. 

Within  a  quarter  of  an  hour  of  our  arrival  we  were 
drinking  tea  in  our  tent,  our  beds  were  laid  out,  and  we 
ourselves  were  once  more  fairly  warm  and  comfortable. 
Jaffa,  the  cook,  prepared  a  dish  of  rice  and  meat,  which 
was  ready  in  another  hour.  Seldom  have  I  eaten  with 
a  better  appetite  or  enjoyed  a  supper  more.  We  had  how¬ 
ever  no  time  to  lose  if  we  wanted  any  sleep,  for  the  word 
was  passed  round  that  we  were  to  start  again  at  dawn, 
and  it  was  past  two  o’clock  before  we  had  finished. 

Scarcely,  it  seemed,  had  we  turned  in  when  the  bustle 
of  preparation  around  us  proclaimed  that  it  was  time  to 
turn  out.  It  was  still  quite  dark,  blowing  hard,  and  colder 
than  ever.  The  moon  had  sunk  and  the  stars  were,  I 
think,  brighter  than  I  have  ever  seen  them.  While 
packing  up  we  had  an  altercation  with  Saad,  the  camel- 
man,  who  violently  abused  Abdul  Wahid  because  we  were 
not  so  quick  about  it  as  he  would  have  liked.  The  latter 
said  nothing  at  the  time,  but,  once  we  were  started,  ex¬ 
postulated  with  him  with  equal  vehemence.  The  argu¬ 
ment  lasted  several  hours,  at  the  end  of  which  Saad  con¬ 
sented  to  be  pacified.  I  was  now  riding  in  the  shugduf 
with  Masaudi,  and  Abdul  Wahid  was  taking  his  turn  on 
the  other  camel.  We  traversed  the  same  rugged  country, 
still  gradually  going  upwards.  By  ten  o’clock  it  was  once 


104  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


more  decently  warm,  by  midday  it  was  blazing  hot.  We 
started  so  wrapped  up  that  we  could  hardly  climb  into 
the  shugcluf,  but  by  the  afternoon  found  a  “  kamis  ” 
quite  sufficient  covering.  One  great  drawback  to  this 
kind  of  travelling  is  that  if  one  has  to  get  off  for  any  pur¬ 
pose  it  is  impossible  to  stop  the  camels,  and  one  is  obliged 
to  remount  while  they  are  in  motion.  To  get  into  a  shug- 
duf  is  not  too  easy  at  any  time,  but  when  the  camel 
is  under  way  it  involves  an  acrobatic  skill  which  I  per¬ 
sonally  do  not  possess.  The  only  way  is  to  make  the  camel 
lower  its  head,  get  a  foot  on  it,  then  swarm  up  its  neck 
and  so  scramble  into  one’s  place.  Unless  the  other  occu¬ 
pant  of  the  shugduf  is  very  smart  in  resuming  his  posi¬ 
tion  at  the  same  moment  disaster  is  certain.  While  in 
it  alone  he  must  crouch  on  the  camel’s  back  itself,  and 
on  no  account  lean  to  one  side,  or  the  whole  blessed  thing 
will  capsize. 

During  the  afternoon  Saad,  restored  to  good  temper, 
regaled  us  with  a  description  of  the  life  led  by  these  camel- 
men.  Since  he  was  big  enough  to  walk  he  had  done 
nothing  but  trek  backwards  and  forwards  over  this  road. 
He  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  seemed  ignorant 
of  even  the  elements  of  the  Mohammedan  religion.  I 
never  saw  any  of  these  Bedou  praying,  and  don’t  believe 
many  of  them  know  how  to.  Saad  had  most  extra¬ 
ordinary  notions  regarding  the  outside  world,  and  was 
quite  surprised  to  hear  that  there  were  bigger  towns  than 
Medina.  He  was  intensely  interested  in  Abdul  Wahid’s 
description  of  Berlin  and  Paris,  though  I  could  see  that 
from  the  first  he  had  put  him  down  as  a  hopeless  liar. 
Apparently  he  was  under  the  impression  that  most  Euro¬ 
peans  were  cannibals.  His  Arabic  was  pure  and  classical 
* — approximating  to  the  language  of  the  Koran — and  his 
pronunciation  of  its  characteristic  consonants  such  as  we 
despaired  of  imitating — Abdul  Wahid  as  much  as  myself. 

We  journeyed  on  till  nine  p.m.,  when  we  camped  and  the 
performance  of  the  previous  night  was  repeated.  Several 
shots  were  fired  at  the  caravan  on  the  march  and  in  camp, 
but  none  of  them  came  near  us.  Some  more  stragglers 
were  murdered,  and  a  few  robberies  were  committed  in 
camp — the  ordinary  incidents  of  the  road,  which  excited 
no  remark. 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBXJ 


105 


The  next  day  we  trekked  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  tra¬ 
versing  a  wide  valley  between  high  and  precipitous 
ranges.  The  whole  aspect  of  this  country  is  indescribably 
wild  and  desolate.  No  trace  of  vegetation  is  to  be  seen, 
and  the  rocks  assume  weird  and  fantastic  shapes,  no 
doubt  due  to  the  alternations  of  great  heat  and  cold,  which 
cause  them  to  split  in  all  directions.  Far  to  the  south 
I  saw  one  range  topped  by  a  peak  which  must  have  ap¬ 
proached  the  snow-line.  The  summit  was  lost  in  the 
clouds  and  guarded  by  absolutely  sheer  precipices  at  least 
two  thousand  feet  in  height.  Surrounding  it  and  facing 
us  was  a  sort  of  vast  amphitheatre,  forming  a  precipitous 
wall  on  the  inside. 

Here,  at  least,  is  a  field  still  open  to  the  explorer.  This 
vast  territory  of  Arabia  remains  largely  terra  incognita 
even  in  a  geographical  sense,  while  regarding  its  geological 
structure,  fauna,  flora,  and  other  physical  aspects,  we 
know  scarcely  anything.  Western  travellers,  it  is  true, 
have  passed  over  a  great  part  of  Northern  Arabia  at 
different  times,  so  that  by  coapting  their  narratives  we 
can  gain  a  fairly  just  idea  of  the  country,  and  even  map 
it  roughly.  Modern  science,  however,  demands  more 
than  this  of  the  explorer,  who,  to  fulfil  its  requirements 
nowadays,  has  to  carry  and  use  a  certain  amount  of  ap¬ 
paratus  which  Arabian  travellers,  hurrying  in  disguise 
from  point  to  point,  have  seldom  been  able  to  do.  Charles 
Doughty,  in  1875-7,  lived  among  the  Bedou  of  this  part 
of  Arabia,  and  wandered  over  much  of  it  in  company  with 
them.  That  he  was  able  to  do  so  was  due  in  great 
measure  to  the  fact  that  he  carried  nothing  worth  stealing, 
with  the  result  that  his  journey,  though  of  unique  in¬ 
terest  in  other  ways,  was  somewhat  barren  of  results  in 
the  matter  of  the  precise  and  accurately-recorded  infor¬ 
mation  that  is  of  real  value  to  physical  science.  This 
remark  is  by  no  means  intended  to  belittle  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  achievements  in  the  history  of  travel,  but  to 
point  out  the  difficulty  that  always  confronts  the  would-be 
Arabian  explorer.  If  he  leaves  his  instruments  at  home 
he  may  come  back  empty-handed  ;  if  he  takes  them  with 
him  he  may  not  come  back  at  all,  if  indeed  he  ever  gets 
started. 

Jffuch  has  been  made  of  the  fact  that  Doughty  made 


106  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


this  remarkable  journey  without  denying  either  his 
religion  or  his  nationality.  That  however  is  perhaps  the 
least  remarkable  thing  about  it.  The  Bedou  themselves 
are  not  fanatical  on  these  points,  and  he  did  not  attempt 
to  enter  the  forbidden  cities.  Of  course  the  fact  of  a 
stranger  being  a  Christian  is  always  a  good  excuse  for 
knocking  him  on  the  head  ;  but  failing  it  they  will 
soon  find  another  if  they  want  to  do  so,  and  will  be  quite 
uninfluenced  by  it  if  they  don’t.  Once  more  perhaps  I 
may  be  pardoned  for  reminding  my  readers  that  we  are 
speaking  of  the  true  Arabs  of  the  Arabian  desert,  for 
the  above  remarks  are  far  from  being  applicable  to 
other  parts  of  the  Moslem  East. 

During  the  day  Saad  informed  us  that  it  was  usual  to 
give  “  bakhsheesh  ”  at  the  rate  of  a  dollar  a  day  during 
the  journey,  and  he  further  demanded  the  whole  amount 
of  pay  still  owing  to  him.  I  was  about  to  answer  this 
preposterous  demand  myself,  when  I  was  restrained  by 
the  tactful  Abdul  Wahid,  who  told  him  we  had  no  money 
with  us,  and  should  not  be  able  to  pay  him  till  we  got 
to  Yembu,  and  could  cash  a  cheque.  Saad  then  made 
various  complaints,  pretended  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the 
food  we  gave  him,  and  finally  threatened  to  take  his 
camels  away  and  leave  us  at  the  next  halt.  So  insolent 
did  he  eventually  become  that  I  decided  to  shoot  him. 
Informed  of  this  intention,  he  suggested  that  we  should 
have  it  out  with  swTords  when  we  got  into  camp.  Other 
pilgrims,  overhearing  the  quarrel,  implored  us  to  use  no 
violence.  They  said  that  if  one  of  these  men  were  killed 
the  whole  of  his  tribe  would  assemble  to  demand  blood 
money  and  not  improbably  plunder  the  caravan.  Never¬ 
theless,  we  could  not  stand  this  sort  of  thing,  and  I  had 
quite  made  up  my  mind  that  a  “  scrap  ”  would  be  in¬ 
evitable  if  it  went  on.  To  my  astonishment,  however, 
Saad  was  again  suddenly  all  politeness,  and  so  he  re¬ 
mained  till  the  end  of  the  journey.  When  we  got  into 
camp  he  assisted  me  to  dismount  and  paid  me  various 
little  attentions,  which  behaviour  I  was  for  some  time  at 
a  loss  to  account  for.  The  explanation  of  this  remarkable 
change  was  a  simple  one  :  Ibrahim,  always  a  cheerful 
and  ready  liar,  had  told  him  that  I  was  a  nephew  of  the 
Governor  of  Yembu,  It  worked  admirably,  colour  being 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU  107 

lent  to  the  statement  by  the  deference  shown  me  by  the 
others. 

Many  other  parties,  however,  were  less  fortunate  in 
their  dealing  with  these  savages.  In  various  ways  they 
managed  to  bully  and  rob  them  till  they  had  extorted 
many  times  the  amount  originally  agreed  upon.  Even 
then  they  were  not  satisfied,  and  were  constantly  threaten¬ 
ing  to  go  off  and  leave  them  unless  some  further  dou¬ 
ceur  was  given.  This  threat,  if  put  into  execution,  as 
it  not  infrequently  is,  involves  of  course  the  loss  of  all 
the  traveller’s  belongings  and  his  having  to  walk  the  rest 
of  the  way.  To  remain  at  the  halting -place  after  the 
caravan  has  passed  on  would  mean  certain  destruction. 
The  party  of  Egyptians  I  have  mentioned  before  were 
induced  to  pay  the  whole  of  their  fare  early  in  the 
journey.  They  were  then  constantly  worried  for  bakh- 
sheesh  and  annoyed  in  various  ways  till  they  submitted 
to  the  extortion.  At  last,  hearing  rumours  of  my  exalted 
station,  they  came  and  complained.  I  had  their  two 
scoundrels  up  and  lectured  them,  threatening  at  the  same 
time  to  report  their  conduct  to  “  my  uncle.”  I  should 
dearly  have  liked  to  have  ordered  their  heads  to  be  taken 
off  on  the  spot,  but  felt  that  might  be  carrying  the  joke 
too  far.  If  the  behaviour  of  the  camel-men  is  bad  when 
dealing  with  pilgrims  of  Arab  extraction,  it  is  far  worse 
with  those  of  other  races,  especially  with  those  who  are 
unacquainted  with  the  language.  Indians  especially  are 
given  a  very  bad  time,  and  are  generally  too  poor  spirited 
to  retaliate.  Of  course  it  sometimes  happens  that  they 
“  catch  a  tartar,”  literally  as  Well  as  metaphorically,  and 
there  is  a  Bedoui  the  less  in  the  world  after  some  more 
than  usually  outrageous  piece  of  insolence.  But  pilgrims 
know  only  too  well  the  usual  consequences,  and  even 
the  most  ferocious  generally  prefer  to  submit.  On  one 
occasion  I  saw  an  old  Indian,  who  had  persistently 
refused  to  hand  over  the  dollar  demanded  of  him,  bom¬ 
barded  with  stones  till  he  fell  from  his  camel.  Several 
times  we  had  to  interfere  on  behalf  of  the  weak  and  de¬ 
crepit  to  save  them  from  similar  or  worse  ill-treatment. 

The  state  of  affairs  here  described  would  not  of  course 
exist  for  a  moment  in  any  of  the  properly  organized 
caravans,  and  is  only  to  be  found  on  this  road,  which 


108  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


is  little  frequented  except  by  the  poorer  class  of  pilgrims. 
This  year  I  believe  it  was  quite  abnormally  bad  :  usually 
the  arrangements  made  by  the  authorities  tvith  regard 
to  tickets  and  registration  of  camels  are  sufficient  to 
check  any  gross  outrage. 

We  passed  through  a  Bedoui  village,  consisting  of  small 
mud  huts  and  a  few  date-trees — the  first  habitation  we 
had  seen  since  leaving  Medina.  There  is  a  small  well 
here,  but  insufficient,  as  we  were  told,  for  the  require¬ 
ments  of  a  caravan.  The  camels  would  get  water  at  the 
next  camp  but  one.  Our  fourth  day’s  march  was  merely 
a  repetition  of  those  that  had  preceded  it,  but  we  had 
now  passed  the  watershed  and  were  descending  rapidly 
to  the  coast.  The  road  was  very  rough  in  places,  but  the 
camels  surprised  me  by  the  agility  they  displayed  in 
clambering  over  rocks  and  boulders.  I  saw  no  accidents, 
though  we  traversed  ground  that  I  should  not  have  cared 
to  ride  a  horse  over.  We  got  into  camp  early — about 
an  hour  before  sundown.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had 
had  an  opportunity  of  inspecting  our  encampment  by 
daylight,  and  I  was  astonished  to  see  that  we  were  the 
only  people  who  possessed  a  tent,  or  at  any  rate  who  had 
troubled  to  pitch  one.  There  was  a  large  well  here,  fitted 
with  a  windlass,  about  a  hundred  feet  deep.  The  water 
drawn  was  emptied  into  curious  cup-shaped  cavities, 
lined  with  sun-baked  clay,  from  which  the  camels  drank. 
I  do  not  know  how  many  of  them  watered  here — certainly 
not  all. 

A  row  of  tumble-down  sheds  did  duty  as  a  market, 
and  here  some  villainous-looking  Bedou  were  selling 
meat  and  dried  fish.  This  is  supposed  to  be  a  very 
dangerous  place,  and  we  were  warned  not  to  go  far.  The 
camping  ground  was  of  course  in  a  very  filthy  con¬ 
dition,  which  was  unpleasantly  obvious  by  daylight. 
The  rest,  all  the  same,  was  most  acceptable,  and  as  we 
were  not  to  start  till  ten  o’clock  the  following  morning,  we 
looked  forward  to  a  long  sleep — which  we  duly  enjoyed. 

We  were  now  to  trek  straight  through  to  Yembu 
without  another  halt,  absence  of  water  being  the  reason 
alleged.  We  started  at  ten  a.m.  and  travelled  without 
stopping  till  six  the  following  morning.  I  rode  the 
spare  camel  till  sundown,  and  then  changed  into  the 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU 


109 


shugduf.  About  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  we  emerged 
from  the  hills  on  to  a  vast  level  plain,  with  barely  a  trace 
of  vegetation,  extending  to  the  sea.  Shortly  after  mid¬ 
night  the  riding  lights  of  the  ships  lying  at  anchor  in 
the  roads  of  Yembu  became  visible.  We  arrived  outside 
the  wall  just  before  dawn,  but  in  compliance  with  the 
usual  rule,  the  gates  were  not  opened  till  sunrise,  so  we 
had  to  wait.  A  caravan  leaving  for  Medina  was  parked 
outside,  ready  to  start  at  daylight. 

Being,  fortunately,  near  the  head  of  the  caravan,  we 
were  able  to  crowd  through  the  gate  as  soon  as  it  was 
thrown  open.  Had  we  been  among  the  last,  we  should 
have  been  delayed  for  hours.  We  passed  down  a  wide 
street  and  halted  in  an  open  square  near  the  centre 
of  the  town.  It  was  uncertain  whether  we  should  be 
able  to  get  a  steamer  that  day,  so  we  decided  to  take  a 
room  where  we  could  rest  and  get  some  food,  of  which  we 
were  much  in  need.  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  went  to  search 
for  one,  while  the  others  unloaded  the  camels.  The  first 
few  rooms  we  inspected  were  in  an  unspeakably  filthy 
state,  and  the  one  we  finally  agreed  to  take,  at  the  rate 
of  a  rupee  a  day,  was  not  much  better,  but  we  were  too 
tired  and  hungry  to  be  fastidious.  This  room  was  on  the 
ground  floor  of  a  house  almost  opposite  the  place  where 
we  had  put  the  luggage.  It  had  just  been  vacated  by  the 
last  tenants  ;  the  floor  was  covered  with  orange  peel  and 
other  refuse  and  was  inches  deep  in  dust.  In  the  corner 
smouldered  the  remains  of  a  charcoal  fire.  The  morning 
sun,  streaming  through  the  windowless  sash,  lit  up  the 
desolation  within,  and  did  not  make  its  appearance  any 
the  more  inviting.  Curiously  enough  that  house  im¬ 
pressed  us  all  the  same  way — as  being  infected  with  some 
pestilential  disease.  It  probably  was.  It  is  really 
extraordinary  that  no  decent  accommodation  is  to  be 
found  in  these  places.  Any  one  starting  a  hotel  here  or 
in  Jiddah  would  be  sure  of  large  profits. 

We  made  an  excellent  breakfast  off  boiled  eggs  and  hot 
rolls,  but  decided  to  forgo  our  sleep  till  we  had  arranged 
for  our  passages.  We  accordingly  went  down  to  the 
quay,  where  most  of  the  shipping  offices  were  situated. 
There  were  about  half-a-dozen  ships  of  various  nationali¬ 
ties  at  anchor  in  the  open  roadstead  in  front  of  the  town. 


110  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


The  offices  were  in  a  row,  and  standing  outside  each  door 
a  sort  of  salesman  was  proclaiming  the  merits  of  his 
particular  steamer,  the  price  of  the  tickets,  and  the  hour  of 
starting.  There  did  not  seem  much  to  choose,  so  we 
fixed  on  one  who  was  vociferously  inviting  the  support 
of  all  true  Moslems  on  the  ground  that  his  ship  sailed 
under  the  Turkish  flag — an  absolute  lie,  as  we  subse¬ 
quently  discovered.  She  was  a  Greek  ship  of  antique 
design  that  had  been  chartered  for  the  season  by  a 
syndicate  of  Persians.  There  are  no  “  classes  ”  on  these 
lines — the  tickets  are  all  one  price,  which  varies  however 
every  few  minutes,  according  to  the  amount  of  competi¬ 
tion  and  number  of  pilgrims.  When  there  is  a  likelihood 
of  getting  a  full  complement  of  passengers,  the  price 
goes  up  ;  if  a  scarcity,  it  goes  down.  The  one  object 
of  the  owners  is  to  get  a  full  ship  somehow.  We  were 
anxious  to  start  that  day,  so  before  we  took  our  tickets 
we  extracted  a  definite  promise  from  the  agent  that 
we  should  sail  before  sunset.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we 
struck  rather  a  bad  time  and  praid  a  good  deal  more 
than  later  applicants — to  wit,  two  dollars  apiece.  We 
were  told  that  no  one  would  be  allowed  aboard  till  the 
afternoon,  which  suited  us  rather  well.  On  returning  to 
the  house,  we  settled  up  with  Saad,  the  camel-man,  paying 
him  the  remainder  of  the  fare  agreed  upon  and  a  very 
moderate  amount  of  bakhsheesh.  Here  in  Yembu  of 
course  we  had  him  at  our  mercy.  I  don’t  know  if  he 
ever  discovered  the  little  deception  arranged  for  his 
benefit,  but  I  doubt  if  he  ever  conducted  a  less  profitable 
party  than  ourselves  in  the  whole  course  of  his  mis-spent 
existence.  However,  he  made  the  best  of  it,  professed 
himself  satisfied,  and  went  off.  Before  leaving  the 
subject  I  may  say  that  the  road  we  travelled  by  is  not 
the  only  one  between  Yembu  and  Medina.  There  are  at 
least  two  others,  used  at  different  times  of  the  year,  but 
I  was  unable  to  get  hold  of  any  useful  information  con¬ 
cerning  them. 

We  took  our  luggage  down  to  the  quay  and,  leaving 
Masaudi  in  charge  of  it,  went  round  the  markets  to 
replenish  our  food  supply.  Yembu  is  the  most  tumble- 
down  place  I  ever  saw.  The  houses  are  all  askew,  and 
the  minaret  of  its  solitary  mosque  stands  at  an  angle  that 


Ill 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU 

recalls  the  leaning  tower  of  Pisa.  It  is  also  about  the 
dirtiest  place  I  ever  set  foot  in.  The  dingy  markets  are 
strewn  with  every  kind  of  abomination,  the  odours  as 
variegated  as  they  are  unpleasant.  There  are,  however, 
some  tolerably  good  shops  where  most  necessaries  of  life 
are  obtainable.  The  town  of  course  is  protected  by  a 
wall  on  its  landward  side,  and  a  large  garrison  is  necessarily 
kept  here.  Water  is  a  great  difficulty — the  supply  being 
limited  and  very  brackish.  It  is  said  to  be  extremely 
unwholesome,  which  I  can  well  believe.  A  distilling 
plant  has  recently  been  put  up,  and  may  tend  to 
improve  matters. 

Our  shopping  concluded,  we  looked  for  a  cafe  where 
we  might  get  a  smoke  and  some  coffee.  The  best  we 
could  find  was  about  in  keeping  with  the  rest  qf  the 
town,  but  we  were  not  by  way  of  being  particular  just 
then.  We  sat  down  at  a  small  table  outside,  after 
asking  permission,  in  accordance  with  the  courteous 
custom  of  the  country,  of  a  Bedoui  sheikh  already  sitting 
there.  We  ordered  pipes  and  coffee.  Just  then  the 
Bedoui’s  pipe  was  brought.  He  took  a  pull  at  it  and 
looked  unhappy.  “  You  rascal,”  he  said  to  the  attendant, 
“I  don’t  believe  this  water  is  fresh.”  “Not  fresh  ?  ” 
replied  the  latter,  4 4  Why  it  was  changed  the  day  before 
yesterday  !  ”  This  was  too  much  for  the  sheikh : 
words  failing  him,  he  picked  up  the  pipe  and  threw  it 
at  the  waiter’s  head.  The  projectile,  missing  him,  passed 
through  the  open  window  and  burst  inside.  I  hurriedly 
countermanded  my  order  and  decided  to  stick  to  cigarettes. 

All  considered,  notwithstanding,  we  were  inclined  to 
take  a  more  cheerful  view  of  life  than  we  had  done  for 
some  days.  The  air  was  warm,  and  the  sunlight  on  the 
blue  water  was  a  delightful  change  from  the  glare  and 
dust  of  the  desert.  It  was  pleasant  to  be  dressed  in 
clean  clothes  and  to  be  at  rest  again  after  the  fatigue 
and  monotony  of  camel-travelling.  We  were  disposed 
to  make  light  of  present  discomfort  in  the  recollection 
of  past  hardships.  Moreover,  here  was  the  first  half 
of  the  enterprise  accomplished  successfully,  and  the 
practicability  of  the  whole  clearly  demonstrated. 

Two  enormous  Turks  or  Anatolians  came  and  sat  down 
at  our  table.  They  really  were  most  ridiculous  figures. 


112  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


for  they  combined  the  outward  appearance  of  a  stage 
brigand  with  the  benign  expression  of  a  family  doctor. 
They  had  enormously  wide  trousers,  hitched  very  low 
round  their  waists  and  looking  as  if  they  might  fall  off  at 
any  moment.  In  their  belts  they  carried  no  less  than 
three  revolvers  apiece,  of  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
bore,  some  cutlasses,  and  a  few  miscellaneous  daggers. 
They  were  both  well  over  six  feet  in  height,  very  stout, 
with  huge  grey  beards  and  whiskers.  We  pretended 
to  be  horrified  at  their  ferocious  appearance  and  implored 
them  not  to  quarrel.  When  at  last  they  comprehended 
the  joke,  which  was  not  for  some  time,  they  literally 
roared  with  laughter,  slapping  us  continually  on  the  back. 
They  then  invited  us  to  join  them  in  a  glass  of  lemonade. 

We  lunched  off  fried  fish,  which  was  very  good,  like 
all  Red  Sea  fish  ;  its  flavour  was  not  impaired  by  the  fact 
that  we  had  to  eat  it  with  our  fingers,  standing  behind 
the  wheel-barrow  from  which  it  was  sold — but  the  flies 
were  a  nuisance.  They  were  in  millions.  Several  times 
we  went  to  the  shipping  offices  to  ask  when  we  could  go 
aboard,  and  were  continually  put  off  on  one  pretext  or 
another.  We  began  to  suspect  that  they  did  not  mean  to 
start  at  all  that  day,  in  which  we  were  right.  Several 
other  ships  put  to  sea  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  but 
at  about  four  o’clock  our  people  announced  that  they 
were  not  allowed  to  sail  till  the  next  day,  and  so  we  could 
not  go  aboard  till  the  following  morning.  This  of  course 
deceived  nobody — it  being  perfectly  obvious  that  the 
only  thing  preventing  them  was  lack  of  passengers,  and 
that  they  simply  proposed  to  wait  until  they  had  filled 
the  ship  to  her  utmost  capacity.  We  were  told  it  might 
easily  be  three  or  four  days  before  we  got  off,  and  we  had 
no  remedy.  There  appeared  to  be  nothing  for  it  but  to 
take  another  room  and.  wait,  as  we  could  not  very  well 
camp  on  the  quay.  We  abused  the  shipping  people  till 
we  were  tired,  and  then  engaged  a  room  in  a  house  ad¬ 
joining  their  office.  This  was  certainly  cleaner  and  better 
than  our  first  venture,  but  it  cost  another  dollar.  This 
was  not  of  very  great  consequence  to  me,  and  we  had  so 
much  time  on  our  hands  that  I  did  not  greatly  care  if 
we  were  detained  in  Yembu  a  day  or  two.  We  wanted  a 
rest.  Not  every  one,  however,  was  so  fortunately  situated. 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU 


113 


They  could  not  all  afford  to  throw  dollars  about  for  ac¬ 
commodation  they  had  already  paid  for.  An  angry  crowd 
began  to  collect  in  front  of  the  office,  demanding  that 
the  ship  should  start.  I  was  half  undressed  in  our  new 
quarters, intending  to  take  a  bath,  when  sounds  of  a  tumult 
without  brought  Masaudi  and  myself  to  the  window.  We 
saw  that  the  office  was  besieged  by  an  infuriated  mob  of 
passengers,  who  were  all  shouting  at  the  top  of  their 
voices,  while  the  wretched  Persians  crowded  in  the  door¬ 
way  were  vainly  endeavouring  to  make  themselves  heard. 
In  the  foremost  rank  of  the  rioters,  yelling  louder  than 
any  one,  we  were  astonished  to  perceive  Abdul  Wahid. 

Fearing  that  he  would  get  into  trouble,  we  ran  down¬ 
stairs  and  forced  our  way  through  the  crowd  to  his  side. 
We  found  him  in  a  state  of  wild  excitement  and  apparently 
regarded  by  the  other  demonstrators  as  their  leader.  At 
his  suggestion  we  seized  the  Persians,  with  the  exception 
of  one  whose  green  turban  proclaimed  him  a  “  shareef,”  or 
descendant  of  the  Prophet,  and  to  whom,  therefore,  it 
would  be  improper  to  offer  violence,  and  carried  them  off 
to  the  house  of  the  governor,  whose  aid  we  proposed  to 
invoke.  The  governor,  however,  was  most  emphatically 
“not  at  home.”  Foiled  here,  we  returned  to  the  quay,  and 
Abdul  Wahid,  mounting  a  pile  of  sugar-bags,  proceeded 
to  address  the  meeting.  He  wound  up  an  impassioned 
exordium,  constantly  interrupted  by  applause,  by  de¬ 
nouncing  their  behaviour  as  unworthy  of  Islam.  “We 
had  better  be  dealing  with  Christians,”  he  perorated, 
“  than  Moslems  who  cheat  their  brethren  in  this  fashion.” 
Murmurs  of  protest  deprecated  this  revolting  comparison  ; 
we  all  felt  he  was  going  a  little  too  far.  In  the  end,  the 
Persians  gave  way  ;  we  were  permitted  to  go  aboard  at 
once,  and  they  were  made  to  promise  faithfully  that  we 
should  start  at  sunset. 

Once  more  we  had  to  pack  up  and  move  in  haste. 
With  some  difficulty  we  got  a  boat,  and  after  passing  a 
nominal  inspection  at  the  quarantine  station,  rowed  out 
to  our  steamer,  which  was  lying  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  shore.  When  we  arrived,  about  a  hundred  pilgrims 
were  already  aboard,  and  others  were  crowding  up  the 
gangway,  at  the  top  of  which  we  saw  the  chief  of  the 
Persian  syndicate  directing  affairs.  No  sooner  did  he 

8 


114  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


catch  sight  of  us  than  he  began  a  storm  of  abuse  in 
Persian,  to  which  Abdul  Wahid  replied  in  kind.  The 
substance  of  it  all  was  that  we,  by  heading  the  riot,  had 
been  the  cause  of  all  the  trouble,  and  the  loss  they  would 
incur  by  sailing  with  their  ship  half  empty  ;  that  we 
could  have  our  money  back,  but  they  would  see  us  some¬ 
where  before  they  let  us  come  aboard.  We  paid  no 
attention,  shoved  our  boat  alongside  and  proceeded  to 
carry  the  gangway  by  assault.  Ibrahim,  going  first, 
butted  the  Persian  in  the  stomach  and  forced  his  way 
past,  followed  by  Jaffa  and  myself  with  the  hand  luggage. 
This  was  seized  by  the  syndicate,  who  attempted  to 
pitch  it  overboard.  Abdul  Wahid,  however,  had  by  now 
become  a  popular  hero,  and  the  rest  of  us  shone  with  a 
reflected  glory.  Everybody  realized  that  it  was  entirely 
owing  to  him  that  the  Persians  had  been  brought  to 
terms.  A  crowd  of  excited  pilgrims  gathered  to  our 
rescue.  Some  Moroccan  Arabs  seized  the  unfortunate 
syndicate,  and  swore  that  if  any  of  our  belongings  went 
overboard,  they  would  be  thrown  in  after  them.  Willing 
hands  helped  to  hoist  our  heavy  luggage  on  deck,  and  we 
were  conducted  in  triumph  to  the  best  place  in  the  ship, 
where  our  mats  were  spread  and  our  things  arranged 
for  us.  Ingratitude  is  not  a  common  vice  in  the  East. 

In  the  meantime  Ibrahim  had  a  conversation  with 
the  Persians  which  put  an  end  to  further  friction  between 
us.  It  now  appeared  that  I  was  a  near  relation  of  the 
Governor  of  Jiddah,  and  was  fully  determined  to  report 
the  whole  affair  to  him  on  arriving  there,  having  been 
greatly  scandalized  by  the  proceedings  to  date.  This 
news  caused  something  like  consternation  among  them. 
Thenceforward  they  could  not  do  enough  for  us,  in  the 
hope  of  correcting  the  unfortunate  impression  they  had 
made.  Between  this  and  the  effusive  gratitude  of  our 
fellow-passengers,  we  made  the  voyage  in  far  greater 
comfort  than  would  otherwise  have  been  possible.  I 
could  not  help  feeling  rather  flattered  by  the  readiness 
with  which  these  accounts  of  my  illustrious  connections 
always  obtained  credence. 

The  ship,  originally  a  cargo-boat,  had  been  fitted  up 
expressly  for  the  pilgrim-traffic.  The  hold  was  occupied 
by  two  strata  of  decks  fore  and  aft,  reached  by  ladders 


MEDINA  TO  YEMBU 


115 


leading  through  the  hatchways.  Being  in  ballast  and 
very  light,  she  stood  high  out  of  the  water,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  would  have  rolled  abominably  in  any  sort  of 
a  sea.  Fortunately  it  was  calm  as  a  duck-pond.  She 
soon  filled  up,  and  by  sunset  there  must  have  been  quite 
fifteen  hundred  passengers  aboard,  and  more  still  arriving 
every  minute.  Every  inch  of  space  seemed  occupied. 
I  reflected  that  if  this  was  their  idea  of  a  half-empty  ship, 
I  should  be  very  sorry  to  travel  in  a  full  one.  The 
Persians  excused  their  failure  to  start  as  promised  on 
the  ground  that  they  could  not  leave  passengers  behind. 

The  position  we  had  taken  up  was  on  the  upper  deck, 
just  abaft  the  bridge,  and  we  had  about  five  times  as  much 
space  as  we  were  entitled  to.  Jaffa,  with  a  charcoal 
brazier,  managed  to  cook  us  an  excellent  dinner,  and  we 
were  able  to  pass  a  very  comfortable  night  after  all.  I 
went  to  sleep  before  I  had  finished  my  pipe,  and  knew 
nothing  more  till  eight  o’clock  the  next  morning. 


CHAPTER  VI 


JIDDAH 

When  I  awoke  we  were  getting  under  way.  A  violent 
altercation  was  taking  place  over  the  following  question. 
A  party  of  Magribi  Arabs  had  passed  the  quarantine 
and  were  half-way  out  to  the  ship  when  one  of  them 
died  (sic).  The  boat  put  back,  but  the  shore  authorities 
refused  to  let  them  land  again.  They  then  came  out  to 
the  ship,  and  the  Persians  utterly  declined  to  take  the 
corpse  aboard.  They  could  not  throw  it  overboard 
because  certain  ceremonial  washings  remained  to  be  per¬ 
formed,  and  prayers  said,  before  it  could  properly  be 
“  committed  to  the  deep.”  The  dispute  was  as  to 
whether  they  were  entitled  to  bring  him  aboard  or  not. 
An  Egyptian  lawyer  camped  near  us  was  asked  to  bring 
his  forensic  knowledge  to  bear  on  this  rather  nice  point. 
He  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  man,  having  taken  his 
ticket,  was  entitled  to  a  passage,  dead  or  alive,  there 
being  no  saving  clause  in  the  contract.  The  tickets,  in 
fact,  consisted  of  slips  of  paper  with  the  name  of  the  ship 
and  a  number  scribbled  on  them,  and  nothing  else.  I 
thought  that  having  expired  after  leaving  the  shore  he 
was  practically  a  passenger,  and  should  be  considered 
as  having  died  on  board.  The  Magribis,  however,  got 
sick  of  arguing,  and  came  swarming  over  the  bulwarks, 
secured  a  footing  on  deck,  and  hoisted  up  their  departed 
comrade  without  more  ado.  Their  fierce  brown  faces 
and  long  knives  sufficed  to  prevent  any  one  from  inter¬ 
fering  actively.  The  rumour  that  the  man  had  died  of 
cholera,  which  got  about  shortly  afterwards,  fortunately 
proved  unfounded. 

We  left  Yembu  at  half-past  eight  and  soon  lost  sight 
of  land.  The  last  thing  we  saw  was  a  caravan  just  starting 

116 


JIDDAH 


117 


for  Medina,  the  long  line  of  camels  trailing  for  miles  across 
the  sandy  foreshore.  Another  quarrel  broke  out  almost 
immediately  over  the  question  of  water-supply.  It  is 
an  understood  thing  that  drinking-water  in  reasonable 
quantities  is  supplied  free  on  these  ships.  Our  Persians 
wanted  to  sell  it.  In  the  end,  the  passengers  crowded 
on  to  the  bridge  and  threatened  to  throw  the  whole 
syndicate  into  the  sea  if  it  was  not  issued  at  once.  The 
captain,  an  enormously  fat  Egyptian,  then  interfered, 
and  insisted  on  a  free  allowance  being  made,  to  which 
the  Persians  had  to  consent.  We  declined  to  take  any 
part  in  this  disturbance,  being  quite  satisfied  with  things 
as  they  were. 

There  was  one  Western  European  on  board,  a  doctor, 
I  think,  and  an  Englishman  by  the  look  of  him.  He 
remained  in  the  chart-house  with  the  captain,  so  that  I 
only  saw  him  at  a  distance.  When  we  arrived  at  Jiddah 
he  made  a  sort  of  formal  inspection  of  the  decks,  so  I 
concluded  that  he  was  connected  in  some  way  with  the 
quarantine  arrangements. 

At  about  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon  the  syren  was 
blown  to  announce  that  we  had  reached  the  latitude  at 
which  it  was  necessary  to  exchange  our  ordinary  clothes  for 
the  Ihram.  This  garb  is  obligatory  on  all  travellers  ap¬ 
proaching  Mecca,  on  attaining  a  certain  distance  from 
the  holy  city,  and  it  must  be  worn  thenceforward  until 
they  have  performed  the  circuit  of  the  Kaaba  and  kissed 
the  black  stone.  It  must  also  be  worn  during  the  three 
days  of  the  pilgrimage  itself.  Some  people  wear  it  during 
the  whole  of  their  stay  in  Mecca  as  a  self-inflicted  penance, 
and  a  few  also  when  entering  the  Prophet’s  tomb  at  Medina 
— though  I  believe  this  is  not  allowed  by  the  Shafei  sect. 
The  idea  is  purity  and  humility  ;  that  every  one  entering 
God’s  house  shall  be  dressed  the  same,  irrespective  of 
wealth  or  rank,  as  simply  as  is  consistent  with  decency, 
and  in  pure  white.  The  costume  for  men  consists  of  two 
cloths,  one  worn  round  the  waist,  the  other  over  the 
shoulders.  Nothing  else  is  allowed — even  a  belt  is, 
strictly  speaking,  prohibited,  though  it  is  often  worn  along 
with  weapons.  The  head  is  left  uncovered  and  umbrellas 
are,  properly  speaking,  barred,  though  invalids  or  aged 
people  may  use  them  if  they  wish,  and  others  with  no  such 


118  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


excuses  often  do.  The  loin  cloth  should  not  reach  much 
below  the  knees.  The  most  usual  form  of  Ihram  worn 
by  well-to-do  people  consists  of  a  couple  of  Turkish  bath- 
towels,  made  especially  long  for  the  purpose,  and  with 
these  we  had  provided  ourselves  before  leaving  Damascus. 
Some  wear  a  sort  of  petticoat  and  shoulder  cloth  of  linen 
or  cotton  instead  of  towels  ;  it  is  quite  optional.  Women 
wear  a  long  linen  robe  completely  covering  them,  head 
and  all,  provided  with  a  straw  mask  with  eye-holes  for 
the  face.  Before  assuming  the  Ihram  it  is  proper  to 
shave  the  head  and  body,  with  the  exception  of  the  breast 
and,  of  course,  the  beard  and  moustaches.  A  person  so 
attired  is  known  as  “  Muhrim,”  and  to  him  certain  things 
are  unlawful  which  at  other  times  are  permissible. 

In  such  a  climate  as  this  the  wearing  of  the  Ihram 
naturally  means  some  hardship,  particularly  to  pilgrims 
from  northern  countries  not  inured  to  the  powerful 
rays  of  the  Arabian  sun.  It  is  really  marvellous  that  half 
of  them  do  not  die  of  sunstroke  ;  but  it  is  a  simple  fact 
that  they  don’t.  Personally,  I  suffered  far  more  from 
the  cold  at  night  than  from  the  sun  during  the  day,  and 
but  for  a  few  blisters  on  my  neck  and  back  was  none  the 
worse  for  it.  One  of  the  objections  to  the  direct  route 
from  Medina  to  Mecca  is  that  one  has  to  wear  Ihram 
nearly  the  whole  way  *  even  the  covers  of  the  shugdufs 
are  taken  off  lest  they  should  afford  the  prohibited 
shelter. 

Having  arrayed  ourselves  in  the  manner  described  we 
said  a  special  prayer  as  directed  in  the  little  books  with 
which  we  were  provided,  and  we  were  then  at  liberty  to 
take  stock  of  each  other  and  laugh  at  the  comical  aspect 
we  presented.  I  felt  very  thankful  that  I  l^ad  not  ac¬ 
quired  what  is  vulgarly  known  as  a  “  corporation.”  A 
party  of  elderly  European  Turks  close  to  us  looked 
peculiarly  ludicrous,  their  appearance  suggesting  members 
of  the  Athenaeum  Club  suddenly  evicted  from  a  Turkish 
bath.  The  utmost  restraint  imposed  by  good  manners 
could  not  prevent  my  laughing  whenever  I  looked  their 
way,  conduct  whioh  caused  them  to  shake  their  heads 
and  lament  the  decay  of  courtesy  in  young  men  of  the 
present  day. 

We  anchored  off  Jiddah  at  eleven  o’clock  the  following 


JIDDAH 


119 


morning.  It  was  not  possible  to  approach  nearer  than 
about  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  we  had  to  disembark  in 
boats,  of  which  a  great  number  were  collected  in  waiting 
for  us.  There  were  quite  a  dozen  other  ships  at  anchor, 
among  which  we  recognized  some  of  those  we  had  seen  at 
Yembu.  We  thought  it  better  to  wait  till  the  bulk  of  the 
pilgrims  had  got  off  before  going  ashore  ourselves,  so  as 
to  avoid  the  crowd  and  possible  loss  of  baggage  from 
getting  mixed  up  in  it.  Eventually  we  engaged  a  small 
boat  all  to  ourselves.  On  landing,  we  were  made  to  pass 
before  a  Government  official,  who  merely  asked  if  we  were 
Arabs  or  Turks,  and  made  a  note  of  our  answer.  Arriving 
as  we  were  from  Ottoman  territory,  our  passports  were 
not  demanded,  neither  was  our  luggage  examined.  We 
found  a  line  of  Mutowifs  waiting  on  the  quay,  who  put 
the  same  query,  but  hearing  we  were  Arabs,  they  took 
no  further  interest  in  us.  Had  we  been  Turks  or  Persians 
we  should  have  been  pestered  to  engage  them.  It  was 
no  longer  possible  to  tell  the  pilgrim’s  nationality  by  his 
costume,  all  being  similarly  attired.  I  am  told  that  there 
are  special  people  employed  here  to  watch  for  any  Euro¬ 
pean  attempting  to  enter  disguised,  but  if  this  is  true, 
which  I  doubt,  they  failed  in  their  duty  on  this  occasion — 
not  that  this  is  in  any  way  surprising,  for  as  I  have  already 
remarked  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  many  Englishmen 
passing  as  Arabs,  clothed  or  otherwise. 

As  we  proposed  to  stay  here  a  few  days  we  took  some 
trouble  to  find  decent  accommodation,  and  eventually 
obtained  three  rooms  and  a  kitchen  on  very  reasonable 
terms  in  the  house  of  a  certain  Persian  “  Shareef,”  a 
very  respectable  and  nice  old  man.  As  it  was  now  past 
midday,  and  as  we  were  too  hungry  to  await  Jaffa’s  rather 
lengthy  preparation  of  food,  we  went  to  a  restaurant  for 
lunch.  The  best  we  could  find  consisted  of  a  single  room 
with  a  long  table  down  the  middle.  Only  one  dish  was 
provided,  and  that  consisted  of  chunks  of  meat  impaled 
on  a  long  skewer,  the  whole  suspended  over  a  charcoal 
fire  just  outside  the  door,  so  that  intending  customers 
could  have  a  good  look  at  it  first.  The  cook-proprietor, 
armed  with  a  toasting-fork,  stood  on  the  threshold  to 
prevent  them  submitting  it  to  any  more  practical  tests. 
As  each  selected  a  piece,  it  was  detached  and  handed  to 


120  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


him,  along  with  a  plate  and  piece  of  bread.  The  table 
d’hote  was  not  expensive — about  twopence  !  The  pro¬ 
prietor  was  a  Christian  ;  but  a  notice  over  his  shop  an¬ 
nounced  that  Moslems  might  eat  there  without  risk  of 
defilement. 

Non-Moslems  are  allowed  to  reside  in  both  Yembu  and 
Jiddah,  provided  that  they  do  not  go  outside  the  walls. 
In  the  latter  place  there  are  a  few  Christian  and  Jewish 
merchants,  and  most  of  the  European  Powers  are  repre¬ 
sented  by  Consuls.  They  are,  however,  by  no  means  safe 
from  maltreatment  even  here.  The  Consulates  are  situated 
all  together  in  the  northernmost  quarter  of  the  town. 

Jiddah  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  very  picturesque  place,  especially  as  seen 
from  the  sea,  and,  like  Yembu,  it  is  in  a  very  dilapidated 
condition.  The  high,  narrow  houses  seem  tottering  on 
their  foundations — the  minarets  of  its  mosques  are  all 
yards  out  of  the  plumb.  A  slight  earthquake  shock 
would  reduce  both  places  to  a  heap  of  rubble.  The  streets 
and  markets,  though  dirty,  are  as  nothing  in  that  respect 
compared  with  Yembu.  There  are  a  number  of  good 
shops  and  several  fairly  respectable  cafes.  The  climate 
though  hot  is  not  in  itself  unhealthy,  and  is  far  preferable 
to  that  of  Mecca,  which  on  a  still  day  is  a  perfect  furnace. 
Here  at  Jiddah  the  sea-breezes  keep  the  air  moving,  and 
help  to  carry  away  the  miasmas  arising  from  the  in¬ 
sanitary  condition  of  the  streets  and  habitations.  The 
water,  like  that  of  Yembu,  is  scarce  and  brackish.  Epi¬ 
demic  diseases  of  all  sorts  are  unfortunately  very  pre¬ 
valent. 

The  Oriental  appearance  of  the  place  is  accentuated  at 
this  season  by  the  Ihram,  which  nearly  every  one  is  wearing. 
It  seems  strange  to  see  streets  and  cafes  filled  with  people 
clad  only  in  bath  towels.  At  first  I  could  not  help  feeling 
positively  indecent ;  but  the  sensation  soon  wore  off. 

We  now  found  ourselves  in  rather  a  difficulty  owing 
to  my  uncertainty  as  to  whether  or  not  a  certain  sheikh 
from  Mombasa  was  coming  to  the  pilgrimage.  This  man 
knew  of  my  intention  to  go  to  Mecca  in  disguise,  and  I  had 
originally  intended  to  form  one  of  his  party.  For  various 
reasons  I  had  changed  my  plans,  and  on  deciding  to  go 
independently  of  him  had  judged  it  advisable  to  put  him 


JIDDAH 


121 


off  the  scent  by  writing  and  telling  him  that  I  had  given 
up  the  idea.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  never  for  a  moment 
thought  I  really  meant  to  go.  If,  however,  he  was  coming 
I  foresaw  that  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to  avoid 
running  across  him  in  Mecca  in  the  course  of  a  whole 
month,  so  I  considered  it  preferable  to  meet  him  here  in 
Jiddah  and  have  it  out  before  starting.  I  intended  to 
hold  him  to  his  original  promise  not  to  interfere,  even  if 
he  were  not  prepared  to  assist  me.  I  was  not  altogether 
confident  in  his  good  faith,  and  realized  that  we  were 
now  facing  as  serious  a  danger  as  any  that  had  hitherto 
confronted  us. 

The  first  thing  to  do  was  to  ascertain  whether  or  not 
*  he  had  already  passed  through,  and  for  this  purpose  I 
sent  Masaudi  to  reconnoitre  the  house  where  Zanzibar 
pilgrims  usually  stay.  He  returned  with  the  intelli¬ 
gence  that  the  sheikh  had  not  arrived  ;  but  a  letter  from 
him  had  been  received  some  time  previously,  and  he  was 
expected  daily.  I  decided  to  wait  a  few  days  on  the 
chance  of  his  coming.  We  were  in  no  hurry,  and  I  cer¬ 
tainly  preferred  to  see  him  here  in  Jiddah,  where  escape 
would  be  possible  if  things  went  wrong,  rather  than  in 
Mecca,  where  my  life  might  depend  entirely  on  the  view 
that  various  considerations,  principal  among  them  his 
own  safety,  might  induce  him  to  take. 

We  remained,  in  consequence,  four  whole  days  in 
Jiddah,  not  counting  the  days  of  our  arrival  and  de¬ 
parture.  The  second  day  we  took  the  opportunity  to  visit 
the  tomb  of  no  less  a  person  than  Eve — who  is  said  to  be 
buried  here.  Her  mausoleum  is  situated  some  little  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  wall,  and  is,  as  might  be  expected,  in  a 
rather  ruinous  condition.  I  was  informed,  however, 
that  the  edifice  is  comparatively  modern,  and  was  not 
built  by  Adam — as  my  informant  evidently  thought  I 
might  suppose.  “  Our  Lady  Eve  ”  was  apparently  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  height,  so  that  in  her  present  re¬ 
cumbent  position  it  is  rather  a  tiring  walk  round.  Two 
small  domes,  one  at  each  end,  mark  the  positions,  of  her 
head  and  feet,  while  a  third,  'about  the  middle,  indicates 
the  region  of  her  epigastrium.  At  each  of  these  we  were 
supposed  to  say  the  customary  “  fatiha,”  though  many 
people  decline  to  prostitute  in  this  manner  so  solemn  a 


122  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


prayer.  The  women  who  guard  the  tomb  have  to  put 
up  with  a  good  many  witticisms  from  their  visitors — not 
always,  I  am  afraid,  of  too  delicate  a  description.  For 
some  reason  no  one  seems  to  take  this  sacred  monument 
very  seriously. 

Our  reputation,  acquired  from  the  Yembu  emeute , 
had  outlived  the  short  voyage,  and  we  found  ourselves 
pointed  at  in  the  streets  and  elsewhere  as  the  heroes  of 
that  affair,  whose  public-spirited  action  had  been  instru¬ 
mental  in  bringing  nearly  two  thousand  pilgrims  down 
the  coast  who  might  otherwise  have  been  detained  at 
Yembu  indefinitely.  Abdul  Wahid  certainly  made  the 
most  of  this — he  never  was  one  to  hide  his  light  under  a 
bushel — and  though  I  found  our  sudden  popularity  rather 
embarrassing,  I  felt  I  might  easily  need  it  all  before  we 
saw  Jiddah  again. 

On  the  fourth  day,  several  ships  having  in  the  meantime 
arrived  from  the  south  without  bringing  further  tidings 
from  Mombasa,  I  decided  on  mature  consideration  to 
chance  it,  and  go  on  to  Mecca.  I  was  rather  tired  of 
Jiddah  for  one  thing,  and  our  two  servants  were  beginning 
to  wonder  at  this  unaccountable  dallying. 

Determined,  however,  to  neglect  no  possible  precaution, 
I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  sheikh  explaining  what  had  hap¬ 
pened  and  demanding  from  him  an  attitude  of  strict 
neutrality.  This  I  deposited  with  the  landlord  of  the 
house  where  he  would  most  probably  stop,  with  instruc¬ 
tions  that  he  was  to  give  it  to  him  if  he  came,  and  if  not, 
keep  it  till  I  returned.  We  then  selected  a  Mutowif,  and 
telling  the  story  that  had  served  us  so  far,  offered  to 
engage  him.  It  appeared  that  he  was  the  local  agent 
of  one  of  the  principal  Mecca  guides,  a  man  called  Mo¬ 
hammed  Miftah,  to  whom  he  promised  to  write,  telling 
him  to  look  out  for  us.  I  have  had  this  rather  on  my 
conscience,  for  of  course  we  never  had  the  slightest  in¬ 
tention  of  doing  business  with  either  of  them.  However, 
in  adventures  of  this  sort,  one  can’t  afford  to  be  too 
scrupulous.  We  arranged  with  a  Bedoui  sheikh  for 
camels  to  be  brought  to  our  house  at  dawn  the  following 
day. 

Once  definitely  decided  on  our  course  of  action,  I  think 
we  all  felt  easier  in  our  minds  than  we  had  done  for  some 


JIDDAH 


123 


time.  In  time  of  danger  it  is  waiting  that  tries  the 
nerves  ;  once  fairly  launched  to  the  attack  there  is  no 
time  for  unpleasant  reflections,  and  the  necessity  for 
present  action  precludes  vague  fears  for  the  future. 
The  day  being  Friday,  we  attended  the  midday  service 
in  the  principal  mosque — a  tumbledown  place  of  no  par¬ 
ticular  interest — and  then  adjourned  to  a  cafe,  feeling 
that  we  had  taken  all  precautions  that  wisdom  or  piety 
could  suggest.  Abdul  Wahid  made  a  vow  that  if  he 
returned  safely  he  would  present  three  dollars  to  the 
poor  of  Jiddah.  We  told  him  we  thought  he  was  asking 
the  Almighty  to  do  it  rather  cheaply,  and  that  he  had 
much  better  make  it  a  sovereign.  To  our  disgust,  when 
we  did  get  back  he  utterly  declined  to  disgorge  the 
promised  sum. 

The  next  morning  we  were  up  betimes,  and  had  all  in 
readiness  before  daylight.  Our  camels  were  punctual, 
but  I  was  not  pleased  with  their  appearance.  The  one 
I  was  to  ride  looked  as  if  it  might  die  at  any  moment. 
The  poor  beasts  have  a  very  bad  time  at  this  season,  for 
their  owners  have  to  make  what  they  can  out  of  them 
while  it  lasts,  and  consequently  never  give  them  a  rest. 
We  had  hired  four  for  this  journey,  for  we  had  sold  the 
shugduf  at  Yembu,  and  it  did  not  seem  worth  while  to 
buy  another. 


CHAPTER  VII 


JIDDAH  TO  MECCA 

From  Jiddah  to  Mecca  is  a  distance  of  about  forty  miles 
and  the  road  is  protected  the  whole  way  along  by  a  line 
of  block-houses  or  small  forts,  almost  within  rifle-shot 
of  one  another.  It  is  consequently  safe  to  travel  in¬ 
dependently,  and  there  is  no  necessity  to  wait  for  a 
caravan.  There  are  also  small  booths  at  intervals  of 
about  a  mile,  where  “  light  refreshments  55  are  obtainable. 
Many  people  send  their  luggage  and  servants  by  camel 
and  ride  through  themselves  on  donkeys.  I  rather  re¬ 
gretted  afterwards  that  we  had  not  done  so  ourselves. 

Leaving  the  gate,  we  passed  out  on  to  a  level,  sandy 
plain  some  seven  miles  across,  terminating  in  a  range  of 
low  hills  ;  the  string  of  camels  extended  right  across  to 
these  hills  and  disappeared  among  them.  At  this  time 
of  year  an  almost  continuous  line  of  camels  stretches  from 
Jiddah  to  Mecca,  so  vast  is  the  number  of  pilgrims 
flocking  into  the  holy  city.  We  had  not  gone  very  far 
when  I  felt  a  sinking  sensation  and  found  myself  de¬ 
posited  suddenly  on  the  ground,  fortunately  on  that  part 
of  my  anatomy  best  adapted  to  take  the  concussion 
without  injury.  My  poor  camel  was  obviously  finished, 
whether  from  overwork  or  disease  I  know  not.  We  turned 
our  string  out  of  the  road,  abused  our  camel-man  for 
bringing  us  animals  in  such  a  condition,  and  threatened 
to  go  back  to  Jiddah  and  cry  off  the  deal  altogether. 
We  had  to  wait  about  an  hour  while  he  went  to  fetch 
another,  and  we  did  not  finally  start  till  past  eight 
o’clock.  Our  chapter  of  accidents  was  by  no  means 
over.  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  hit  on  the  unlucky  idea  that 
we  might  get  down  at  one  of  these  little  cafes,  have  a 

124 


JEDDAH  TO  MECCA 


125 


smoke  and  some  coffee,  and  afterwards  catch  up  our 
camels.  The  pace  of  a  baggage-camel  is  barely  two  miles 
an  hour,  while  a  man  can  easily  walk  three.  We  con¬ 
sumed  thus  some  twenty  minutes,  and  then  started  to 
walk  on.  The  air,  which  had  been  delightfully  cool  in 
the  early  morning,  was  now  getting  momentarily  more 
sultry,  and  the  sun  was  beating  down  on  the  sand  in  a 
way  that  rendered  walking  over  it  with  bare  feet  more 
than  unpleasant.  We  trudged  along  as  best  we  could, 
but  soon  found  that,  far  from  our  gaining  on  the  camels, 
they  were  actually  gaining  on  us.  We  had  by  now 
entered  the  hills,  and  the  caravan  was  forced  to  proceed 
in  single  file.  We  tried  to  pass  the  word  along  to  turn 
out  our  string,  but  the  pilgrims  near  us  were  all  Indians 
and  we  could  not  make  them  understand  what  we  wanted. 
Fortunately  Masaudi,  with  his  usual  common  sense, 
finding  that  we  did  not  come  up,  acted  on  his  own  initia¬ 
tive  and  halted  in  the  first  open  space  he  came  to,  where 
we  rejoined  him,  very  hot  and  footsore,  and  wiser  for  the 
future.  I  seriously  thought  at  one  time  that  we  should 
have  to  walk  the  whole  way  to  Mecca. 

At  about  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon  we  reached 
the  village  of  Bahreia,  which  is  supposed  to  be  half-way, 
but  in  my  own  opinion  is  very  much  nearer  Jiddah  than 
Mecca.  It  consists  of  a  few  shops,  where  provisions 
and  fodder  may  be  bought,  some  eating-houses,  and 
“kraals”  for  cattle  and  goats.  There  are  some  date- 
plantations  near  by,  and  a  large  fort  with  a  garrison,  a 
company  or  more,  affords  the  village  the  much-needed 
protection.  Bahreia  lies  in  an  open  plain  some  few  miles 
in  width,  bounded  on  the  Jiddah  side  by  the  range  of  low 
stony  hills  we  had  just  traversed,  and  running  out  into 
sand-dunes  to  the  east.  Water  seemed  fairly  plentiful, 
and  was  not  noticeably  salt. 

We  camped,  some  little  distance  from  the  village,  on 
the  cleanest  ground  we  could  find  ;  and  did  not  trouble 
to  pitch  tents,  as  the  weather  was  fine  and  warm.  It  was 
our  intention  to  start  at  dawn  the  following  morning  ; 
but  our  camel-man  contrived  to  upset  our  plans  and  forced 
us  to  make  a  night  march.  His  idea  of  course  was  to 
get  us  to  the  end  of  our  journey  in  the  shortest  possible 
time,  so  that  he  could  return  to  Jiddah  for  some  more 


126  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 

passengers.  Besides  onr  lot,  he  had  three  other  camels, 
which  were  carrying  some  Egyptians — a  man  and  two 
women.  He  managed  to  bluff  them  into  starting  at 
eleven  o’clock,  just  as  the  moon  was  rising,  and  then  came 
to  us  to  say  that  they  would  not  be  allowed  to  enter  Mecca 
unless  we  came  too,  since  his  pass  was  for  a  certain  number 
of  camels,  and  if  they  did  not  all  appear,  he  would  be 
refused  admittance.  This  was  probably  a  lie,  but  as 
we  could  not  very  well  make  the  Egyptians  offload 
again,  we  had  to  make  the  best  of  it  and  go  too.  I  did 
not  much  mind  ;  it  was  much  more  pleasant  to  ride 
through  the  warm,  still  night  than  in  the  daytime  with 
the  sun  beating  down  on  our  shaven  and  defenceless 
heads.  So  we  saddled  up  and  joined  the  stream  of  camels 
still  flowing  silently  eastward.  Day  and  night  it  is  the 
same  ;  we  seemed  drifting  into  Mecca  on  a  rising  tide 
of  humanity.  When  one  considers  that  in  the  course 
of  the  month  perhaps  half  a  million  people  travel  this 
road,  beside  nearly  all  the  food  and  other  stores  they 
require,  it  is  easy  to  realize  the  enormous  number  of  beasts 
that  must  be  employed. 

The  silence  of  the  whole  is  strange  and  impressive. 
There  is  no  longer  any  shouting,  singing,  or  firing  of  shots. 
Most  of  the  pilgrims  are  too  awed  by  their  surroundings 
to  divert  themselves  thus,  and  the  camels  steal  forward 
over  the  soft  sand  without  a  sound.  It  is  difficult  for  an 
outsider  to  realize  the  true  Moslem’s  feelings  as  he  ap¬ 
proaches  Mecca.  To  him  it  is  a  place  hardly  belonging 
to  this  world,  overshadowed  like  the  Tabernacle  of  old  by 
the  almost  tangible  presence  of  the  deity.  Five  times 
daily  throughout  his  life  has  he  turned  his  face  toward 
this  city  whose  mysteries  he  is  now  about  to  view  with 
his  own  eyes.  Moreover,  according  to  common  belief, 
pilgrimage  brings  certain  responsibilities  and  even  perils 
along  with  its  manifold  blessings.  Good  deeds  in 
Mecca  count  many  thousand  times  their  value  else¬ 
where,  but  sins  committed  there  will  reap  their  reward 
in  hell. 

In  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  we  passed  between 
two  white  stone  pillars,  which  mark  the  boundary  of  the 
sacred  territory,  and  thenceforward  we  were  treading 
consecrated  ground.  Nothing  within  may  be  hunted, 


JIDDAH  TO  MECCA  127 

or  killed  at  all  except  for  food.  All  wanton  destruction 
of  life  is  forbidden.* 

After  passing  the  line,  a  special  prayer  is  repeated  at 
intervals,  at  times  in  chorus.  It  runs  as  follows  : 

“  Oh,  my  God,  I  am  here,  I  am  before  Thee,  Thou  hast 
no  compeer,  Thine  is  the  power  and  the  kingdom.  Mercy 
is  Thy  attribute.  Here  I  am,  here  I  am.  Oh,  my  God, 
here  I  am  !  ” 

The  last  words  (Lebeka,  lebeka,  Allahooma  lebeka)  are 
repeated  many  times  over  in  a  sort  of  wailing  key  and 
taken  up  again  and  again  at  different  points  along  the 
line. 

In  our  half-clad  condition  we  found  the  early  morning 
air  very  chilly  and  were  glad  when  the  sun  rose.  As  it 
got  light  Ibrahim,  who  had  made  the  pilgrimage  before, 
pointed  out  to  me  the  Gebel-en-Noor  (mountain  of  light), 
a  high  conical  peak  surmounted  by  a  sort  of  beacon,  which 
I  am  told  is  really  a  tomb.  This  is  one  of  the  famous 
hills  overlooking  the  city.  About  eight  o’clock  we  passed 
a  few  stone  houses  some  distance  to  the  left,  which  we 
were  told  belonged  to  Mecca,  and  accordingly  we  read 
the  prayer  appropriate  to  the  first  sight  of  its  buildings. 
Each  of  us  was  provided  with  a  book  containing  all  these 
prayers  in  their  proper  order,  to  be  recited  on  different 
occasions,  such  as  on  assuming  the  Ihram,  the  first  view 
of  the  city,  passing  the  gate,  catching  sight  of  the  Kaaba, 
and  so  on.  This  particular  prayer  began  : 

“  Oh,  Lord,  who  hast  brought  me  in  safety  to  this  place, 
do  Thou  bring  me  safely  out  again.”  A  sentiment  to 
which  one  person  at  any  rate  in  that  caravan  said 
“  Amen  ”  most  fervently. 

Yet  though  I  must  confess  to  having  felt  a  little  ner¬ 
vous,  I  had  only  to  glance  round  to  see  that  most  of  my 
fellow-pilgrims  were  more  frightened  still.  As  we  ap¬ 
proached  the  town  their  excitement  became  quite  painful 
to  witness.  For  about  an  hour  we  travelled  on,  passing 
only  a  few  small  huts  and  an  occasional  Bedoui  tent, 
till  I  began  to  wonder  where  on  earth  Mecca  could  be 


*  In  the  state  of  “  Ihram  ”  the  pilgrim  is  forbidden  to  take  life  of 
any  kind  ;  even  insects,  with  the  exception  of  scorpions  and  one  or  two 
others  dangerous  to  human  beings,  are  protected.  All  loud  talking 
and  squabbling  are  likewise  prohibited. 


128  '  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


hidden.  Suddenly  we  turned  to  the  left  and  saw  in 
front  of  us  a  great  hollow  surrounded  by  high  stony  hills, 
one  of  them  crowned  by  a  large,  formidable -looking  fort, 
another  by  a  mosque,  and  the  rest  by  other  buildings 
that  I  was  at  the  time  unable  to  identify. 

Mecca  in  fact  lies  at  the  edge  of  the  rough  mountainous 
country  which  extends  far  into  the  interior  of  Arabia. 
The  town  is  situated  in  a  deep,  narrow  valley,  so  com¬ 
pletely  hidden  on  the  seaward  side  that  one  sees  no  sign 
of  it  till  almost  arrived  at  the  gate.  This  valley  runs 
approximately  north-east  and  south-west,  and  seems  to 
extend  for  a  considerable  distance. 

Abdul  Wahid  and  I  decided  to  go  forward  on  foot  to 
reconnoitre,  and  if  possible  find  a  suitable  house  before 
the  camels  arrived.  We  instructed  Masaudi  to  trek 
right  through  to  the  farther  side  of  the  town  and  halt  in 
the  main  street,  where  we  promised  to  rejoin  him.  We 
knew  that  we  should  have  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  those 
confounded  guides,  who  would  be  in  waiting  for  us  as  we 
entered  the  gate.  Walking  forward  rapidly,  we  passed 
the  new  barracks — a  spacious  building  capable  of  accom¬ 
modating  several  regiments.  Then,  as  we  entered  the 
long  main  street  leading  to  the  centre  of  the  town,  we 
found,  sure  enough,  a  row  of  the  Mutowifs,  as  usual 
tastefully  dressed  in  all  colours  of  the  rainbow,  completely 
barring  the  way.  But  we  were  ready  for  them  this 
time.  As  we  approached,  Abdul  Wahid  called  for 
“  Mohammed  Miftah,”  who,  as  good  luck  would  have  it, 
was  not  there.  We  asked  several  of  them  about  him, 
and  of  course  they  all  concluded  that  we  were  already 
“  fixed  up,”  and  therefore  did  not  bother  about  us. 
An  old  sheikh,  tlieir  official  chief,  stopped  me  and  asked 
my  name.  “  Ali,”  I  told  him.  Nationality  ?  “  Arab.” 

We  then  passed  on.  As  there  must  have  been  hundreds 
of  Arabs  of  that  name  passing  every  day,  I  concluded  he 
must  be  paid  by  the  Government  to  ask  these  foolish 
questions.  At  any  rate  I  breathed  freely  once  more, 
and  I  may  as  well  say  at  once  that,  thanks  to  this  device, 
we  had  no  further  trouble  with  the  Mutowifs.  Naturally 
we  made  no  further  effort  to  find  Mohammed  Miftah. 

We  made  our  way  down  a  wide,  straight,  and  rather 
imposing  street  for  about  half  a  mile,  and  then  turned 


Mecca 


JIDDAH  TO  MECCA 


129 


into  the  arcades,  which  were  so  crowded  that  we  had  some 
difficulty  in  getting  along.  Emerging  from  these  we 
came  to  another  long,  straight  road,  leading  as  I  was  told 
to  Mina,  and  after  about  twenty  minutes’  walk  we  arrived 
at  our  destination.  Turning  out  of  this  crowded  thorough¬ 
fare,  we  came  to  a  district  of  quiet  streets  with  tall, 
shuttered  houses,  some  of  them  possessing  small  gardens. 
This,  we  were  informed,  was  the  best  residential  quarter, 
specially  favoured  by  Persians  and  Arabs  from  the  Irak, 
i.e.  Bagdad,  Kerbela,  and  the  Euphrates  Valley.  It 
specially  appealed  to  me  as  it  seemed  unlikely  that 
Zanzibar  or  Muscat  pilgrims  would  be  able  to  afford  the 
rents  here  demanded.  Another  advantage  was  that,  in 
case  of  cholera,  we  should  be  safer  here  than  in  the  more 
populous  parts  of  the  town.  In  the  epidemic  of  the 
previous  year  this  district  had  escaped  very  lightly 
compared  with  the  others.  As  I  had  more  than  £100 
left,  I  thought  that  further  economy  was  unnecessary, 
and  we  might  make  ourselves  as  comfortable  as  possible. 

We  inspected  several  houses  before  finding  one  that 
met  our  requirements.  In  the  end  I  decided  on  a  suite 
of  three  rooms,  with  a  roof  garden,  in  the  house  of  a  brass- 
worker,  by  name  Mohammed  Saeed.  The  principal 
apartment  was  large,  clean,  and  airy,  and  the  others  were 
quite  passable.  I  liked  the  look  of  our  landlord  and  his 
son — the  latter  a  man  of  about  twenty-five — natives  of 
Mecca.  After  much  bargaining  we  agreed  to  pay  £7 
for  the  month,  for  which  we  were  to  have  the  use  of  the 
kitchen,  and  to  be  attended  by  the  household  slaves 
should  we  require  their  services.  Once  having  come  to 
an  arrangement,  we  found  them  very  hospitable.  The 
women  of  the  house  prepared  food  and  coffee  for  us, 
while  the  men  assisted  us  with  the  luggage,  which  had 
arrived  with  Masaudi  and  the  others.  I  was  rather 
astonished  at  getting  what  we  wanted  so  cheaply,  for  I 
had  been  quite  prepared  to  pay  £15,  or  even  £20,  for  our 
accommodation.  Mohammed  Saeed  told  us  he  would 
always  let  his  rooms  cheaply  to  respectable  Arabsj  who 
could  be  trusted  to  be  quiet  and  of  cleanly  habits,  in 
preference  to  obtaining  a  much  larger  sum  from  Indians 
or  Javanese.  It  appeared  that  he  had  a  nephew  living 
in  Zanzibar,  and  he  was  very  interested  to  hear  about 

9 


130  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


that  country.  I  mentioned  casually  that  I  did  not  wish 
him  to  tell  any  one  where  I  came  from  because  I  was 
afraid  of  trouble  with  the  Mutowifs,  a  request  that 
seemed  perfectly  natural  to  him,  and  to  which  he  pro¬ 
mised  to  pay  due  regard. 

Having  installed  ourselves  thus  comfortably,  and 
done  justice  to  a  very  good  lunch  served  on  a  table  in 
European  style,  with  plates,  knives,  and  forks,  we  deter¬ 
mined  to  go  to  the  Haram*  at  once  to  perform  the 
“towaf,”  after  which  we  should  be  able  to  exchange  the 
Ihram  for  our  ordinary  clothes,  which  we  were  naturally 
anxious  to  do  as  soon  as  possible.  Masaudi  had  a 
bad  headache,  so  at  Mohammed  Saeed’s  advice  he 
decided  to  wait  till  the  next  morning,  as  the  ceremonial 
involves  a  lot  of  running  about  which  in  the  hot  sun  is 
very  fatiguing. 

Abdul  Wahid  and  I  therefore  went  together,  duly 
performing  our  ablutions  before  starting.  Twenty 
minutes’  walk  brought  us  to  the  gate  of  the  Haram,  and 
passing  through  we  found  ourselves  at  last  in  the  great 
square  that  encloses  the  little  group  of  buildings  we  had 
come  to  see.  Before  our  eyes  was  the  Kaaba,  its  black 
covering  almost  startling  in  its  contrast  with  the  dazzling 
white  of  the  sunlit  marble  pavement.  From  it  our 
awe-struck  gaze  travelled  in  turn  to  the  plain  masonry 
dome  that  covers  Zemzem’s  holy  well,  to  the  strange 
objects  that  mark  the  “  makams  ”  of  Mohammed, 
Abraham  and  Ishmael,  j  and  the  curious  stone  hut  of  the 
Shafei  sect ;  and  then  passed  onwards  to  lose  itself  in 
the  twilight  of  the  surrounding  colonnade. 

The  outstanding  impression  left  by  the  whole  scene 
is  that  of  the  unusual.  It  is  not  beautiful,  it  could 
not  fairly  be  called  majestic,  but  it  awes  one  by  its 
strangeness.  One  feels  instinctively  that  one  is  looking 
on  something  unique  :  that  there  can  be  nothing  else 
in  the  world  the  least  like  it.  Whether  the  genius  loci 
resides  in  the  edifices  themselves  or  in  their  arrangement, 
or  whether  it  is  auto-suggested  by  the  tremendous  belief 

*  The  mosque,  or  Haram,  of  Mecca  is  called  by  Moslems  *‘E1-Masgid 
el-haram  ”  or  “Bait  ullahi  el-haram.”  The  last  expression  really 
means  “  the  house  of  God,  the  prohibited”  or  “  the  sanctified.” 

|  In  Arabic  :  “  Ibraheem,”  “  Ismaeel.” 


JIDDAH  TO  MECCA 


131 


concerning  the  small  square  building  in  the  middle,*  I 
cannot  decide,  but  it  is  there.  Be  the  explanation  what 
it  may,  the  effect  is  almost  uncanny.  Few  pilgrims 
gaze  on  the  scene  for  the  first  time  unmoved  :  the  most 
reckless  are  awed  into  unwonted  silence. 

We  prayed  the  two-rukka  prayer  ordained  for  this 
occasion,  and  then  sat  for  some  time  in  the  shadow  of 
the  colonnade  looking  out  across  the  sunlit  space  beyond 
and  taking  in  the  scene. 

The  photographs  in  this  book  give  a  much  better  idea 
of  the  place  than  any  verbal  description  could  do.  The 
sides  of  the  square  measure  about  three  hundred  yards, 
and  the  colonnade  which  surrounds  it  is  about  twenty 
yards  in  depth. t  This  is  supported  by  stone  pillars  and 
roofed  by  small  domes,  as  appears  in  one  of  the  pictures. 
The  floor  of  the  colonnade  is  of  rough-hewn  granite  ;  the 
square  is  strewn  with  gravel  and  traversed  by  paved 
walks  converging  on  the  centre.  The  buildings  comprise 
the  Kaaba,  the  Zemzem  well,  a  pulpit,  the  “  makam  ”  of 
Abraham,  a  small  arch,  and  the  “  makam  ”  of  Ishmael, 
the  last  a  peculiar  semicircular  wall  built  on  to  the  Kaaba. 
The  Kaaba  itself,  which  is  an  almost  perfect  cube  with  faces 
about  forty  feet  square,  is  built  of  large  granite  blocks. 
It  has  a  wooden  door  heavily  studded  with  iron,  placed 
about  eight  feet  above  the  ground,  and  so  necessitating 
the  use  of  a  ladder  by  those  who  would  enter.  It  stands 
in  a  sort  of  shallow  marble  basin,  oval  in  shape  and 
measuring  about  forty  yards  at  its  greatest  diameter. 

The  outer  wall  of  the  Haram  is  of  brick,  and  houses  and 
shops  are  built  on  to  its  exterior  face,  which  from  their 
upper  stories  overlook  the  interior  of  the  mosque.  There 
are  about  eighteen  gates  altogether,  the  principal  of  which, 
that  on  the  northern  side,  is  reached  by  a  flight  of  stone 
steps  leading  into  a  small  market,  appropriated  to  book¬ 
sellers’  shops,  which  terminates  at  the  gate  itself. 

Nothing  in  the  whole  pile  of  buildings  has  the  smallest 

*  Moslems  interpret  the  expression  “  house  of  God  ”  in  its  most 
literal  signiheance.  Many  Mohammedans  fear  to  look  upwards  near 
the  Kaaba  on  the  day  of  the  Hag.  By  some  the  flapping  of  its  curtain 
is  thought  to  be  caused  by  the  wings  of  angels. 

t  These  measurements  are  by  eye,  and  very  roughly  approximate.  A 
full  description  of  the  mosque  will  be  found  in  Sir  Bichard  Burton’s 
book,  “  A  Pilgrimage  to  Al-Medina  and  Meccah,”  Appendix  II. 


132  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


pretensions  to  architectural  beauty  or  material  value. 
Stern  simplicity  and  extreme  solidity  are  the  keynotes  of 
its  design.  The  Haram  is  comparatively  modern,  and 
the  Kaaba  itself  has  been  several  times  rebuilt.  Very 
complete  histories  of  Mecca  exist  in  Arabic. 


We  applied  to  one  of  the  numerous  guides  standing 
about  to  conduct  us  through  the  necessary  ceremonies, 
the  first  of  which  consists  in  the  walk  seven  times  round 
the  Kaaba.*  Moving  across  the  square  to  the  edge  of 
the  depressed  platform  on  which  it  stands,  we  took  our 
guide’s  hands  and  joined  the  throng  surging  round  it. 
It  was  about  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  hottest 
time  of  the  day,  and  the  mosque  was  comparatively 
empty.  Yet  there  must  have  been  quite  a  thousand 
people  going  round.  Day  and  night  throughout  the 
year  it  is  never  quite  deserted.  The  “  towaf,”  as  this  cere¬ 
mony  is  called,  would  be  considered  to  bring  peculiar 
blessing  to  any  one  fortunate  enough  to  be  the  only  person 
performing  it.  Some  of  the  earlier  Caliphs,  Haroun- 
er-Raschid  among  them,  were  in  the  habit  of  creating 
artificially  the  desired  conditions — by  turning  out  every 
one  else — but  that  was  not  considered  playing  the  game. 

Partly  running,  partly  walking,  we  made  our  way 
round  and  round,  repeating  the  while  a  long  prayer  after 
our  guide.  At  the  end  of  our  seventh  circuit  we  had  to 
kiss  the  famous  “  Hagar-el-aswad,’1  a  stone  let  into  the 
corner  of  the  building  about  four  feet  above  the  ground. 
A  hole  in  the  sable  drapery  gives  access  to  it,  and  I  was 
able  to  notice  that  it  is  heavily  encased  with  silver,  and 
that  the  small  part  of  it  exposed  is  being  actually  worn 
away  by  the  kisses  of  the  devout.  This  stone  is  said 
to  have  fallen  from  heaven.  It  is  in  fact  evidently  of 
meteoric  origin. 

We  now  prayed  another  two-rukka  prayer,  and  then 
left  the  Haram  to  perform  the  ceremony  called  the 
“  Saa,”  which  consists  in  running  between  Safa  and 
Marawa,  two  small  hills  about  three  hundred  yards 


It  would  perhaps  be  more  accurate  to  spell  these  words  with  an 
’’  thus  ?  “  Mekknh  ’’  “  Medina, h.”  “  TCa.ha.h.”  This  “  h  ”  however. 


“  h.”  thus  :  “  Mekkah,”  “  Medinah,”  “  Kabah.”  This  “  h, 
is  mute  unless  the  word  is  inflected,  when  it  becomes  a  “  t.” 


moreover,  the  risk  of  confusion  with  the  other 
guttural  ^  that  gives  such  trouble  to  non-Arabs. 


however. 
There  is, 
“  h  ”  of  Arabic,  the 


JIDDAH  TO  MECCA 


133 


apart.  The  line  joining  them  runs  nearly  parallel  with 
the  eastern  face  of  the  Haram,  and  the  road  between 
them  takes  in  the  adjoining  street.  Backwards  and  for¬ 
wards  we  went,  running  part  of  the  way  as  prescribed 
and  repeating  another  long  prayer  all  the  time.  It  is 
on  account  of  these  prayers  that  a  guide  is  so  con¬ 
venient,  as  he  knows  them  all  by  heart,  and  so  saves  the 
pilgrim  the  trouble  of  either  reading  them  out  of  a  book 
or  improvising  them  for  himself,  which  latter  might  be 
beyond  his  capacity.  The  street  we  had  to  traverse  was 
thronged  with  pedestrians,  camels,  horsemen,  and  loiterers, 
so  progress  was  necessarily  slow.  Our  last  turn  concluded, 
we  prayed  a  final  prayer  for  the  Divine  acceptance  of  what 
we  had  done  ;  then  a  small  circular  patch  of  hair  was 
shaved  off  our  heads,  and  the  ceremony  was  over.  We 
were  now  at  liberty  to  dress  ourselves  in  our  everyday 
clothes  and  live  like  ordinary  citizens  of  Mecca  up  to  the 
time  of  the  pilgrimage.  It  was  a  great  relief  to  get  back 
to  the  house,  as  we  were  both  thoroughly  tired  out,  and 
very  footsore.  Jogging  up  and  down  the  rough  road 
with  bare  feet  was  none  too  pleasant,  and  I  fear  that 
once  or  twice,  happening  to  hit  an  unusually  sharp  piece 
of  stone,  I  was  betrayed  into  expressions  distinctly  out 
of  keeping  with  our  occupation.  A  bath  and  the  change 
into  decent  clothes  soon  put  us  right  and  disposed  us 
to  take  a  cheerful  view  of  things  in  general. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MECCA 

We  spent  the  next  few  days  very  pleasantly  in  exploring 
Mecca.  There  was  much  to  see  and  do,  and  the  crowded 
markets  were  a  never-failing  source  of  interest  and 
amusement.  Mecca  is  a  very  much  bigger  place  than 
Medina  :  its  normal  population  apart  from  pilgrims  is 
said  to  be  70,000,  though  I  should  have  put  it  myself 
at  a  much  higher  figure.  It  must  be  remembered  how¬ 
ever  that  the  pilgrims  there  during  the  week  of  the  Hag 
may  number  upwards  of  500,000,  and  that  for  most  of 
them  house  accommodation  has  to  be  provided,  so  that 
the  number  of  buildings  composing  the  city  is  greatly 
in  excess  of  what  would  normally  be  required.  The 
streets  are,  generally  speaking,  wide  and  clean,  and  the 
houses  are  nearly  all  three  or  four  stories  high — some¬ 
times  more.  The  principal  markets  are  roofed,  as  in 
Damascus,  and  though  they  do  not  compare  with  those 
of  that  place  in  number  or  variety,  there  are  nevertheless 
some  very  good  shops.  The  merchants  cater  almost 
entirely  for  the  pilgrims,  most  of  whom  like  to  take  away 
with  them  some  memento  of  their  visit.  There  are  no 
local  industries  whatever,  and  I  quite  failed  to  find 
anything  that  could  be  considered  characteristic  of  the 
place  itself.  Goods  are  imported  hither  from  all  parts 
of  the  Orient — silks  from  Syria,  carpets  from  Turkey  and 
Persia,  brass -work  from  India  and  Egypt — and  all  these 
things  “  go  down  ”  well  enough  with  most  of  the  pilgrims, 
but  are  the  despair  of  the  traveller  who  knows  he  could 

134 


MECCA 


135 


buy  the  same  things  better  and  cheaper  in  many  much 
more  accessible  places  than  Mecca.  Beside  the  resident 
merchants  traders  from  all  parts  of  Islam  bring  their 
wares  to  Mecca  at  this  season,  and  are  always  certain 
of  finding  a  ready  market  and  doing  a  profitable 
business. 

The  government  of  Mecca  is  peculiar.  It  is  really 
a  semi-independent  province  of  Turkey,  under  the  rule  of  a 
“  Shareef  ”  who  is  invariably  chosen  from  certain  families 
descended  from  Ali  and  Fatima.  This  Shareef  is  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  an  independent  monarch  :  he  lives  in  a  palace, 
maintains  a  corps  of  guards,  and  has  theoretically  absolute 
powers  within  his  own  narrow  dominions.  He  is  treated 
with  the  same  ceremony  as  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  or  any 
other  Eastern  potentate.  The  lineage  of  the  Shareefial 
families  is  supposed  to  be  pure  and  irreproachable.  In 
them  one  ought  to  see  the  Arab  as  he  was  in  the  days  of 
the  Prophet,  before  the  Moslem  conquests  had  introduced 
the  foreign  element  which  in  these  days  is  so  apparent 
in  most  of  them.  The  present  Shareef  is  a  man  of  about 
fifty,  of  medium  height  and  good  build.  He  has  straight, 
regular  features,  a  long,  grey  beard,  and  a  rather  dark 
complexion. 

The  Turks  have  a  considerable  garrison  in  Mecca,  but 
I  was  unable  to  ascertain  the  exact  number  of  troops. 
The  big  fort  overlooking  the  town  from  the  south-west 
should  be  capable  of  accommodating  a  couple  of  thousand 
at  least.  It  looks  a  formidable  work,  almost  impregnable 
to  assault,  but  of  course  not  adapted  to  withstand  heavy 
artillery.  Forts  become  obsolete  nowadays  almost  as 
quickly  as  battleships.  The  public  buildings  of  Mecca 
include  a  court-house,  post  and  telegraph  and  other 
Government  offices.  There  are  no  monuments  of  interest 
except  the  somewhat  doubtful  relics  of  the  Prophet  which 
I  shall  describe  presently.  Beside  the  Haram  there  is 
only  one  other  mosque  in  the  town  itself. 

The  climate  of  Mecca  is  not  a  pleasant  one,  though  it 
is  by  no  means  unhealthy.  It  is  very  hot  all  the  year 
round,  and  very  dry.  Pain  falls  only  once  or  twice  a 
year,  but  when  it  does  fall  it  makes  up  for  lost  time.* 

*  The  year  after  I  was  there  a  sudden  cloudburst  flooded  the  Haram 
and  drowned  several  people. 


136  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


The  town  is  so  shut  in  by  the  surrounding  hills  that  a 
breeze  seldom  reaches  it,  and  the  heat  reflected  from 
their  rocky  faces  greatly  increases  the  glare  in  the  day¬ 
time  and  the  stuffiness  of  the  atmosphere  at  night.  In 
the  term  of  years  during  which  the  pilgrimage  falls  in 
the  winter  months  it  is  customary  for  the  Government 
and  the  wealthier  citizens  to  remove  themselves  for  the 
summer  to  Taif,  a  place  about  three  days’  journey  to 
the  south-east,  which  is  much  cooler,  has  a  good  water- 
supply,  and  is  comparatively  fertile.  The  soil  of  Mecca 
is  almost  entirely  barren  ;  practically  nothing,  so  far 
as  I  could  see,  grows  anywhere  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Its  inhabitants  depend  exclusively  on  supplies  from 
outside  sources,  and  it  was  always  a  marvel  to  me  where 
the  food  required  by  the  enormous  number  of  camels 
came  from.  There  is,  I  suppose,  a  certain  amount  of 
grazing  for  them  among  the  mountains. 

The  only  true  well  in  Mecca  is  the  one  in  the  Haram 
called  “  Zemzem,”  and  the  main  water-supply  of  the 
town  is  derived  from  springs  at  Mount  Arafat.  The 
water  is  brought  to  Mecca  by  a  conduit  which  runs 
through  the  town  subterraneously,  and  is  tapped  at 
intervals  by  pits  resembling  wells.  The  water-drawers 
are  a  special  class  ;  they  carry  the  water  in  skins  and 
supply  houses  at  a  certain  rate  per  month  according  to 
the  quantity  required.  The  water  is  of  good  quality 
when  un contaminated,  and  the  supply  is  plentiful, 
except  when  the  channel  gets  blocked  up,  as  occasionally 
happens. 

There  are  several  good  cafes,  which  of  course  at  this 
season  do  a  roaring  trade.  Fresh  food,  such  as  meat, 
chickens,  and  vegetables,  is  obtainable  at  fairly  reasonable 
prices  ;  but  fruit  is  scarce  and  dear.  Taken  all  round  I 
think  that  of  the  two  places  I  should  prefer  to  live  in 
Medina. 

Abdul  Wahid  and  I  usually  went  about  together, 
for  it  was  not  advisable  for  me  to  be  seen  with  Masaudi. 
We  generally  went  to  the  Haram  for  the  midday 
prayer,  and  again  in  the  evening,  when  we  performed 
the  “  towaf,  ”  which,  after  the  preliminary  ceremony, 
merely  involves  walking  seven  times  round  the  Kaaba 
find  saying  any  prayers  you  wish — or  none  if  you  so 


MECCA 


137 


prefer.  During  the  month  we  spent  in  Mecca  I  was 
able  to  examine  at  leisure  the  various  points  of  interest, 
and  to  obtain  much  information  concerning  them  which 
would  be  out  of  place  here.  A  good  idea  of  the  enormous 
crowd  that  gathers  in  the  pilgrimage  season  may  be 
gained  from  the  illustrations. 

I  bought  these  photographs  at  one  of  the  bookshops  in 
the  short  street  leading  to  the  main  gate  of  the  Haram. 
The  proprietor,  a  Meccan  by  birth,  told  me  the  story 
concerning  them  already  quoted.  After  we  had  been 
talking  some  time  he  produced  some  more  photographs 
and  some  picture  post  cards  of  the  kind  that,  in  England 
at  any  rate,  it  is  not  advisable  to  use  for  correspondence. 
Misinterpreting  the  interest  and  amusement  I  could  not 
conceal,  he  drew  me  into  the  darker  recesses  at  the  back 
of  his  shop  and  brought  out  an  album  of  pictures,  the 
nature  of  which  need  not  be  indicated  more  particularly. 
It  seemed  that  amateur  photography  figured  among  that 
sinful  old  gentleman’s  more  or  less  respectable  amuse¬ 
ments. 

I  relate  this  incident  because  it  may  seem  almost 
incredible,  to  those  who  know  how  Mecca  and  its  people 
are  regarded  in  other  Moslem  countries,  that  such  a 
thing  should  be  possible  within  a  few  yards  of  the  Kaaba. 
Such  is  the  extreme  respect  in  which  Meccans  are  held 
that  in  foreign  countries  people  will  stop  them  in  the 
streets  to  kiss  their  hands.  The  veneration  for  the 
Kaaba  itself  often  amounts  to  positive  physical  terror. 
Yet  here,  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  shrine,  we  find — 
what  I  have  described. 

It  will  be  gathered  that  my  friend  the  bookseller  had 
to  make  pretty  sure  of  his  ground  before  indulging  his 
customers  with  these  little  exhibitions,  and  that  I  must, 
however  unintentionally,  have  given  him  an  unfortunate 
impression.  The  inhabitants  of  the  holy  cities,  though 
given  to  all  the  vices  of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain  and  a  few 
more  beside  of  modern  introduction,  are  in  fact  outwardly 
the  demurest  of  hypocrites,  and  most  of  their  visitors 
carry  away  the  best  possible  opinion  of  them.  At  this 
season  especially  they  are  on  their  best  behaviour,  and  the 
more  sensational  stories  concerning  what  goes  on  there 
in  public  “  in  the  Kaaba  ”  are  without  foundation. 


138  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Sir  Richard  Burton  got  into  hot  water  with  many 
people  for  translating  literally  and  without  expurgation 
the  “Arabian  Nights.”  A  perusal  of  his  work  will  give 
the  reader  an  idea  of  how  strange  a  medley  of  grave  and 
gay,  religion  and  superstition,  high  moral  precepts  and 
cynically  immoral  episodes  is  Arabic  literature.  The 
“  Arabian  Nights,”  however,  even  in  its  most  unrestrained 
passages,  is  petite  biere  compared  with  some  other 
well-known  books.  One  in  my  possession,  entitled  very 
inappropriately  “Flowers  of  the  Spring,”  was  written 
by  a  learned  doctor  of  sacred  law  for  the  purpose,  so  he 
says  in  his  introduction,  of  affording  entertainment  and 
distraction  to  his  pupils  when  wearied  by  their  arduous 
theological  studies.  It  begins  with  a  page  or  two  de¬ 
voted  to  praise  of  God  and  His  Prophet — the  indispen¬ 
sable  hors  (V oeuvre  to  an  Arabic  book  on  any  subject 
whatsoever.  A  couple  of  stories  from  the  “traditions,” 
tending  to  prove  that  a  joke  is  a  good  thing  in  its  proper 
place,  are  followed  by  a  little  commentary  on  certain 
obscure  passages  in  the  Koran  bearing  no  relation  what¬ 
ever  to  what  has  gone  before.  This  is  succeeded  by  an 
utterly  irrelevant  anecdote  and  some  verses  that  would 
probably  have  been  considered  unduly  coarse  in  a  pot¬ 
house  of  Gomorrah.  Before  the  reader  has  had  time  to 
recover  from  this  outrage  he  is  back  again  in  some  re¬ 
ligious  controversy,  and  so  the  reverend  author  drags 
his  bewildered  followers  through  four  hundred  and  forty 
pages  of  the  wildest  jumble  of  theology,  history,  philo¬ 
sophy,  eroticism,  and  many  other  subjects  ;  the  whole 
interlarded  freely  with  passages  from  the  Koran,  quoted, 
of  course,  verbatim,  and  furnished  with  all  the  diacritical 
marks.  Once  written  he  evidently  did  not  trouble  to 
read  through  his  manuscript,  for  the  book  abounds  in 
repetition,  and  one  anecdote  of  an  unusually  revolting 
character,  which  had  evidently  tickled  him  considerably, 
occurs  no  less  than  five  times. 

Yet  this  incongruous  use  of  passages  from  a  book 
of  so  highly  sacred  a  character  that  the  printed  volume 
may  not  even  be  handled  without  previous  ablutions 
does  not  appear  the  least  strange  or  improper  to  the  Arab 
mind  ;  and  to  this  fact  is  due  the  somewhat  lengthy 
notice  “  Flowers  of  the  Spring  ”  is  here  receiving,  for  it 


MECCA 


139 


is  very  characteristic  of  the  extreme  reverence  for  the 
Koran  itself  and  the  utter  disregard  of  its  precepts  so 
general  in  Moslem  countries.  To  take  another  instance  : 
a  work  on  religious  observances,  regarded  as  so  important 
that  parents  are  directed  to  make  their  children  learn  it 
by  heart,  contains  not  a  single  direction  as  to  moral 
conduct,  but  is  entirely  concerned  with  such  matters  as 
the  nature  of  the  ablutions  to  be  performed  after  the  law 
has  been  broken. 

The  habit  of  thought  engendered  by  all  this  leads  not 
unnaturally  to  what  are,  as  we  see  them,  anomalies 
strange  as  the  one  which  originated  this  digression. 

The  people  themselves  in  fact  are  the  most  interesting 
feature  of  the  place.  All  that  was  said  in  describing 
the  pilgrim  crowd  at  Medina  applies  here,  only  much 
more  so — for  while  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  is  com¬ 
pulsory  for  every  Moslem  that  can  manage  it,  the  visit 
to  Medina  is  purely  for  such  as  can  afford  the  luxury, 
and  not  one  quarter  of  those  who  come  to  the  pilgrimage  * 
reach  the  latter  place.  The  concourse  gathered  together 
for  the  Friday  prayer  the  week  of  the  Hag  is  a  sight 
worth  the  seeing. 

Among  all  the  pilgrims  of  different  races  daily  pouring 
in,  I  was  most  struck  by  the  Javanese.  In  appearance 
and  manners  they  seem  not  unlike  the  Japanese.  They 
have  the  same  acquisitive  and  imitative  temperament,  are 
intensely  curious  regarding  everything  new  to  them, 
and  quick  to  adopt  any  fresh  idea  that  may  seem  to  them 
an  improvement  on  what  has  gone  before.  In  this  they 
stand  in  strong  contrast  to  the  Arabs,  and  in  fact  to  most 
Eastern  peoples,  whose  extreme  conservatism  is  what 
really  hinders  their  progress.  But  while  the  Japanese 
have  seemingly  agreed  to  take  England  as  their  model, 
the  Javanese  endeavour  to  turn  themselves  into  Arabs. 
The  first  thing  they  do  on  arriving  is  to  attire  them¬ 
selves  in  the  local  costume — which,  by  the  way,  does  not 
suit  them  at  all.  I  am  told  that  there  are  so  many 
people  wearing  Arab  dress  in  Java  that  a  stranger  might 
fancy  himself  in  the  Hedjaz.  Most  of  them  seem  very 

*  It  is  not  strictly  correct  to  speak  of  a  pilgrimage  to  Medina.  A 
traveller  to  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet,  or  to  Mecca  out  of  season,  is 
called  a  Zair,  or  visitor. 


140  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


well-to-do,  and  they  spend  more  money  in  Mecca  than 
any  other  class  of  pilgrims.  They  often  pay  £100  for 
the  use  of  a  house  at  Mina  for  the  three  days  of  the 
pilgrimage.  They  are  very  keen  Mohammedans,  ex¬ 
cellent  linguists,  and  far  better  informed  regarding  current 
affairs  than  either  Arabs  or  Turks.  A  certain  Abd- 
ur-Rahman,  with  whom  we  later  became  acquainted, 
once  made  some  remarks  concerning  them  that  struck  me 
as  worth  remembering  “  It  is  in  these  people,”  he  said, 
“  and  not  in  the  Turks,  that  our  hope  for  the  future  lies. 
They  possess  all  the  qualities  we  Arabs  lack  and  will 
take  from  the  Europeans  their  inventions  and  use  them 
against  our  enemies  just  as  Japan  did  with  Russia.” 

I  know  no  more  about  that  part  of  the  East  than  he 
does,  but  it  is  certainly  a  fact  that  in  China,  Java,  and 
the  Malayan  Archipelago  there  are  now  some  millions 
of  Mohammedans,  and  the  faith  is  rapidly  spreading.  It 
therefore  seems  by  no  means  unlikely  that  he  may  be 
right  in  supposing  that  these  new  Far  Eastern  branches 
may  prove  a  source  of  strength  to  Islam  in  the  near 
future.  In  spite  of  the  newspapers,  Europe  remains 
curiously  ignorant  in  some  ways.  Our  fathers  regarded 
the  Japanese  in  very  much  the  same  way  as  to-day  we 
regard  the  Zulus.  Possibly  the  next  generation  will 
have  to  reproach  our  own  lack  of  foresight  in  some 
similar  instance.  Many  people  display  a  curious  self- 
complacency  in  speaking  of  “  governing  ”  and  “  subject  ” 
races.  They  may  be  quite  right  in  supposing  that  the 
power  and  civilization  of  the  world  will  remain  for  all 
time  centred  among  the  nations  of  Western  Europe, 
but  there  is  nothing  to  prove  it.  Inductive  reasoning, 
based  on  what  we  know  of  the  world’s  history,  leads  to 
a  contrary  conclusion.  Their  theory,  in  fact,  like  that 
responsible  for  “  race  prejudice,”  rests  on  a  gratuitous 
assumption. 

•  •  •  •  • 

We  made  several  friends  in  the  course  of  the  first  week, 
mostly  old  acquaintances  of  Abdul  Wahid.  Among  them 
was  an  officer  in  a  Bagdad  regiment,  who  introduced 
us  to  the  above-mentioned  Abd-ur-Rahman.  The  latter 
was  an  elderly  man,  a  native  of  Mecca,  who  had  charge 
of  the  special  water-carriers  that  dispense  the  water  from 


MECCA 


141 


the  sacred  well  and  the  army  of  attendants  who  hand  it 
round  in  the  Haram.  It  is  held  to  be  a  specially  accept¬ 
able  form  of  charity  to  give  money  for  this  purpose,  i.e. 
to  pay  these  servants  wages  in  order  that  all  comers  may 
get  the  water  free.*  So  many  people  have  been  charitable 
in  this  particular  way  that  it  has  become  almost  a 
nuisance.  One  is  pestered  every  two  minutes  to  partake 
of  the  sacred  fluid,  which,  though  it  brings  wisdom  and 
manifold  other  blessings,  is  none  the  less  exceedingly 
nasty.  For  some  reason  this  well  is  unusually  brackish, 
but  its  water  is  greatly  esteemed  by  the  more  super¬ 
stitious  as  a  panacea  for  bodily  as  well  as  spiritual  ills. 
The  most  acceptable  present  to  bring  from  Mecca  is  one 
of  the  curious  round  canisters  containing  a  pint  or  more 
of  it — the  only  objection  to  doing  so  being  that  the  un¬ 
believing  officials  at  the  first  quarantine  station  will 
probably  chuck  it  into  the  sea. 

This  particular  job  was  apparently  a  perquisite  of 
Abd-ur-Rahman’s  family,  and  had  been  so  for  generations. 
He  was  a  person  of  some  considerable  consequence  and 
proved  a  very  useful  acquaintance.  He  ordered  a  place 
to  be  kept  for  us  in  the  Haram  alongside  himself  and  his 
friends,  our  mats  being  spread  in  the  shade  of  the  colon¬ 
nade  by  day  and  outside  in  the  evening.  This  was  a 
great  convenience,  especially  on  Fridays,  when  most 
people  have  to  come  hours  too  early  in  order  to  get  a 
place  in  the  shade  ;  otherwise  they  have  to  sit  in  the  open 
square,  which,  at  midday,  is  rather  trying.  We,  how¬ 
ever,  could  turn  up  any  time  we  liked  and  make  certain 
of  finding  a  good  place  kept  for  us  by  Abd-ur-Rahman’s 
obsequious  retainers — all  of  which  we  got  gratis  but  for 
the  inevitable  bakhsheesh.  Abd-ur-Rahman  invited  me 
to  his  house,  which  overlooked  the  Haram,  and  I  twice 
went  to  tea  with  him  there.  He  was  very  hospitable, 
and  before  leaving  I  had  to  write  my  name  in  his  visitors’ 
book,  the  collection  of  autographs  being  one  of  his  hobbies. 
He  turned  out  to  be  a  misogynist  and,  what  is  much  more 
unusual  in  the  East,  a  bachelor.  The  fiendish  temper  of 

*  Many  people  have  the  water  brought  to  their  houses  in  order  that 
they  may  wash  themselves  and  their  clothes  in  it.  This  seems  to  have 
given  rise  to  the  idea  that  Mohammedans  bathe  in  the  well  itself.  This 
is  an  error — they  do  not.  It  is  about  forty  feet  deep  for  one  thing. 
The  water,  however,  may  be  used  for  ablutions. 


142  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


his  only  sister,  who  kept  house  for  him,  was  responsible, 
he  told  me,  for  his  dislike  of  women  in  general.  He  had, 
it  seemed,  no  sympathy  whatever  with  the  new  consti¬ 
tution  or  with  parliaments  of  any  sort.  He  had  the 
profoundest  admiration  for  Abdul  Hamid,  and  much  pre¬ 
ferred  the  old  regime,  to  which  he  hoped  and  expected  that 
his  country  would  shortly  return.  We  got  on  rather  well 
together  because  on  most  of  these  points — I  mean  his 
political  views — I  was  able  to  agree  with  him.  On  my 
second  visit  to  him,  however,  his  questions  regarding  my 
family  and  other  affairs  became  so  extremely  embarrassing 
that  I  decided  to  decline  future  invitations,  feeling  that 
my  talents  for  invention  were  unequal  to  further  strain 
upon  them. 

We  several  times  visited  the  slave-market.*  Mecca  is, 
I  believe,  one  of  the  few  places  remaining  where  the  trade 
is  carried  on  thus  openly.  The  slaves,  who  are  kept  in 
special  show-rooms,  sit,  as  a  rule,  in  a  row  on  a  long  bench 
placed  on  a  raised  platform.  They  are  all  women  ;  male 
slaves  and  eunuchs  may  be  bought  by  private  treaty,  but 
are  not  exposed  in  the  market.  One  is  ushered  into  each 
room  by  the  proprietor,  who  expatiates  the  while  on  the 
“  points  ”  of  his  wares,  and  the  phenomenally  low  price 
he  is  asking  for  them.  One  may,  if  so  disposed,  prod 
them  in  the  ribs,  examine  their  teeth  or  otherwise  satisfy 
oneself  that  they  are  sound  in  wind  and  limb,  which  their 
owner  is  usually  prepared  to  guarantee  if  desired.  It  is 
not  usual,  however,  to  warrant  them  free  from  vice — 
which  would,  moreover,  merely  have  the  effect  of  de¬ 
preciating  their  value. 

In  making  a  purchase  one  may  either  close  at  the  price 
stated  or  make  an  offer,  which  will  be  noted,  and  accepted 
if  no  better  one  is  forthcoming  within  a  certain  stated 
time.  This  is  a  very  usual  method  of  selling  goods  of  all 
kinds  in  Oriental  countries. 

The  usual  price  for  female  slaves  ranges  from  £20  to 
£100.  In  the  case  of  Georgians  and  Circassians  with 
special  physical  charms  and  educational  accomplishments 
it  is  sometimes  much  more.  I  asked  about  these,  but 
was  told  that  none  had  been  brought  to  Mecca  this  year 
owing  to  the  high  mortality  among  them  from  cholera 

*  This,  I  believe,  has  since  been  abolished. 


MECCA 


143 


the  year  before.  All  the  merchants  offered  to  get  me  one 
if  I  would  give  an  order,  and  to  guarantee  that  she  should 
be  up  to  specification  ;  but  I  did  not  see  my  way  to 
doing  business  on  these  terms.  None  of  those  we  in¬ 
spected  would  I  have  taken  as  a  gift. 

It  will  be  perceived  by  the  reader  that  the  slavery  we 
are  discussing  is  simply  legalized  concubinage.  These 
young  women  are  sold  by  their  parents,  which,  though 
doubtless  very  wrong  in  principle,  is  only  the  practical 
outcome  of  the  system  under  which  they  live.  As  has 
been  already  pointed  out,  Islamic  society  is  based  on  a 
conception  of  the  relations  that  should  exist  between  the 
sexes  fundamentally  different  from,  and  entirely  foreign 
to,  Western  ideas  on  the  subject.  Slavery  in  the  sense 
of  forced,  unpaid  labour  can  hardly  be  said  to  exist  in 
these  days,  for  the  reason  that  the  slave,  if  dissatisfied  with 
his  lot,  can  so  easily  run  away. 

The  behaviour  of  the  girls  when  undergoing  the  ordeal 
of  inspection  is  what  might  be  expected.  The  younger 
ones  blush  and  giggle,  and  pretend  to  hide  their  faces. 
When  the  customers  being  shown  round  are  also  young 
and  inclined  to  be  facetious,  they  are  quite  capable  of 
joining  in  the  fun.  The  old  and  ugly,  who  have  long 
despaired  of  finding  a  purchaser,  sit  forlorn  and  miserable, 
gazing  dully  in  front  of  them  and  taking  no  interest  in 
the  proceedings.  Their  tired,  hopeless  expressions  bring 
one  near  buying  them  out  of  sheer  pity,  as  is  not  infre¬ 
quently  done  by  charitable  people.  But  without  a  house¬ 
hold  it  is  useless  to  do  this  ;  for  to  give  them  their  freedom 
is  merely  equivalent  to  turning  them  out  to  starve. 
They  at  once  hand  themselves  back  to  their  former 
master,  with  whom  they  are  sure  at  least  of  food  and  a 
roof  to  shelter  them  ;  and  the  well-meaning  purchaser 
is  merely  thought  a  fool  for  his  pains. 

Slavery,  as  we  have  seen,  is  by  no  means  encouraged 
by  the  Mohammedan  religion.  It  is  barely  tolerated,  and 
that  only  in  accordance  with  certain  very  strict  regula¬ 
tions.  A  slave  having  to  complain  of  ill-treatment  is 
sure  of  immediate  redress  at  the  hands  of  the  Kadhi — in 
serious  cases  freedom  may  be  given  from  the  offending 
master.  The  law  looks  after  slaves  very  much  better 
than  it  does  ordinary  servants  in  other  countries.  Of 


144  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


course,  abuses  occur  ;  but  they  are  less  the  fault  of  the 
law  than  of  its  administration.  The  one  idea  of  every 
slave  in  the  market  is  to  find  a  buyer  as  soon  as  possible.* 

We  had  been  in  Mecca  about  a  week  when  Masaudi  ran 
across  an  old  acquaintance.  This  was  a  boy  of  about 
thirteen,  Kepi  by  name,  who,  with  his  father,  a  certain 
Sheikh  Mohammed,  had  travelled  in  the  same  ship  with 
us  from  Mombasa  to  Port  Said  early  in  the  year.  They 
were  then  going  on  by  way  of  Yembu  to  Medina,  where 
they  proposed  to  stay  till  near  the  time  of  the  pilgrimage. 
Sheikh  Mohammed  had  died  on  entering  Mecca,  about  a 
month  previous  to  our  own  arrival,  and  Kepi  had  been 
left  in  a  destitute  condition.  He  had  however  found 
out  some  fellow-countrymen,  who  had  given  him  enough 
money  to  subsist  on,  and  he  lived  in  hopes  of  finding  some 
party  of  pilgrims  to  take  him  back  to  Zanzibar.  There 
are,  by  the  way,  a  certain  number  of  Swahilis  and  Arabs 
from  that  coast  living  in  Mecca.  Of  course  I  was  careful 
to  avoid  meeting  any  of  them,  but  Masaudi,  having  once 
been  recognized,  could  not  help  doing  so.  He  accordingly 
went  round  with  Kepi  to  call  on  their  sheikh,  and  thence¬ 
forward  saw  a  good  deal  of  them.  He  explained  that  he 
had  come  there  with  two  rich  Arabs,  one  a  Bagdadi  and 
the  other  from  Muscat,  with  whom  he  was  living  ;  but 
being  in  the  position  of  a  servant  he  could  not  invite 
people  to  the  house.  As  Kepi  was  a  relation  of  some 
Mombasa  friends  of  mine,  I  thought  I  would  do  a  kind 
action  by  taking  him  with  us  when  we  went.  Masaudi 
informed  him  that  his  Muscat  patron,  hearing  of  his 
misfortunes,  had  decided  to  return  him  to  his  own  country, 
and  would  give  him  a  weekly  allowance  in  the  meantime. 
Kepi  of  course  was  delighted,  and  at  once  volunteered 
to  come  to  us  as  a  servant  during  our  stay  ;  but  Masaudi 
told  him  that  we  had  already  too  many  retainers.  He 
knew  me  by  sight,  so  could  not  be  allowed  into  the  house 
till  we  were  actually  leaving.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  if 
Kepi  had  had  a  little  more  Arabic  and  common  sense,  he 
would  have  applied  to  any  rich  pilgrim  for  assistance, 

*  In  spite  of  all  endeavours  to  prevent  it,  and  the  stringent  regula¬ 
tions  in  force  at  Egyptian  and  Sudan  ports,  a  great  many  children 
are  brought  to  Mecca  every  year  from  Africa  and  sold  for  slaves. 
Kidnapping  in  Mecca  itself  is  not  uncommon.  The  dealers,  scoundrels 
for  the  most  part,  ask  no  questions. 


MECCA 


145 


which  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  would  have  been  amply 
forthcoming.  Any  act  of  real  charity  performed  on  the 
pilgrimage,  more  especially  in  Mecca  itself,  is  believed  to 
cover  a  great  multitude  of  sins,  and  most  people  are  on 
the  look-out  for  genuine  cases  worthy  of  their  generosity. 
Orphans,  moreover,  are  always  objects  of  compassion 
among  the  Arabs. 

Shortly  after  his  meeting  with  Kepi,  Masaudi  returned 
to  lunch  one  day  bringing  most  welcome  news.  A  letter 
had  been  received  from  the  Mombasa  sheikh,  for  whom 
we  waited  so  long  in  Jiddah,  stating  definitely  that 
neither  he  nor  any  of  his  party  were  coming  that  year. 
This  relieved  all  our  worst  apprehensions.  I  knew  by 
this  time  that  no  one  would  take  me  for  a  European, 
unless  given  outside  cause  for  suspicion  ;  but  the  arrival 
of  a  large  party  of  people  who  might  recognize  me  from 
a  chance  meeting  at  any  time,  would  have  introduced  a 
very  perilous  element,  and  certainly  quite  spoiled  our 
enjoyment  of  our  stay — always  provided  we  managed 
to  silence  the  sheikh  himself,  which  was  by  no  means 
certain.  We  were  now  assured  that  no  more  pilgrims 
who  knew  me  by  sight  would  be  coming,  and  the  only 
serious  danger  I  could  see  ahead  was  from  the  four  we 
had  encountered  at  Medina,  who  were  bound  to  turn  up 
presently ;  not  that  I  anticipated  much  difficulty  in 
keeping  out  of  their  way  in  so  large  a  place  as  Mecca . 

We  devoted  a  morning  to  the  usual  round  of  sight¬ 
seeing,  which  here  consists  in  viewing  various  relics  of 
the  Prophet  and  his  family,  all  of  them,  I  believe,  of  very 
doubtful  authenticity.  The  first  place  of  interest  is  a 
group  of  tombs  some  little  distance  outside  the  town  on 
the  left  of  the  road  going  to  Mina.  Here  are  buried 
Khadijah,  the  Prophet’s  first  wife,  his  uncle  Abbas,  Abu 
Talib,  the  father  of  the  celebrated  Ali,  and  one  or  two 
others  less  well  known.  In  general  these  tombs  re¬ 
semble  those  in  the  Bakeia  at  Medina  ;  but  they  are  kept 
in  slightly  better  repair.  There  is  some  difficulty  about 
Abu  Talib  ,  as  it  is  moderately  certain  that  he  died  an  un¬ 
believer.  He  gets,  however,  the  usual  fatiha,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  tolerant  spirit  of  the  age.  While  visiting 
these  tombs  we  were  beset,  as  usual,  by  crowds  of  beggars, 
who  caught  hold  of  our  clothes  and  absolutely  declined 

10 


146  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


to  let  us  go  forward  till  we  distributed  largesse.  It  is 
necessary  to  provide  one’s  self  for  the  purpose  with  a  few 
handfuls  of  the  small  copper  coinage  known  as  “  Nuhass,” 
of  which  about  a  thousand  go  to  the  dollar. 

On  the  way  out  we  met  a  party  of  Indians,  and  agreed  to 
“  split  ”  with  them  the  cost  of  a  Mutowif  to  take  us  round 
the  tombs  and  other  places  we  had  to  visit.  One  of  these 
Indians  was  a  large  fat  man  dressed  in  European  clothes, 
who  told  us  he  had  been  British  Vice-Consul  at  some  place 
on  the  Persian  Gulf.  He  and  Abdul  Wahid  conversed  in 
English  the  whole  time,  the  latter  occasionally  trans¬ 
lating  for  my  benefit.  The  Indian  spoke  English  so  well 
that  apart  from  his  appearance  one  would  never  have 
taken  him  for  a  foreigner  ;  he  seemed  to  know  all  about 
everything  and  had  visited  many  countries,  including 
England  and  Zanzibar.  He  asked  me  if  I  did  not  find 
my  total  ignorance  of  English  rather  a  nuisance  ;  to 
which  I  replied  that  I  had  often  thought  of  learning  it, 
but  had  been  deterred  by  the  difficulty  of  the  grammar. 

This  misplaced  flippancy  might  have  had  serious  con¬ 
sequences.  I  believe  that  before  we  managed  to  get  rid 
of  him  he  had  formed  in  his  own  mind  a  conclusion  con¬ 
cerning  our  party  which  was  not  very  far  from  the  truth. 
However,  we  heard  no  more  of  him. 

The  next  place  we  visited,  after  leaving  the  tombs, 
was  the  house  where  the  Prophet  was  born.  We  were 
shown  a  room  in  the  basement  which  had  in  the  middle 
of  it  a  small  iron  structure  hung  with  curtains.  Here 
we  knelt  down  in  turn,  and  putting  our  heads  through 
a  hole  in  the  hangings,  were  enabled  to  kiss  a  circular 
slab  of  marble  which  marks  the  exact  spot  where  the 
event  took  place.*  The  house  itself  is  quite  modern, 
and  most  people  are  very  sceptical  as  to  the  genuineness 
of  its  claims.  For  obvious  reasons,  stories  relating  to  the 
early  life  of  the  Prophet  and  his  followers  have  nothing 
like  the  same  right  to  credence  as  those  of  his  later  years, 
which  may  for  the  most  part  be  considered  historical. 

We  next  visited  the  house  where  Ali  was  born,  and 
went  through  the  same  performance.  I  had  always 
understood  that  he  was  born  in  the  Kaaba,  and  our  guide 
admitted  that  there  was  disagreement  on  the  subject. 

*  At  Bethlehem  there  is  something  very  similar. 


MECCA 


147 


Finally  we  were  shown  the  house  where  Mohammed  and 
his  wife  Khadijah  lived  together  for  so  many  years. 
This  is  really  supposed  to  be  genuine  as  regards  its  site, 
though  the  present  building  is  new.  The  house  being 
built  in  a  sort  of  hole,  one  has  to  descend  a  flight  of  steps 
in  order  to  reach  the  set  of  three  rooms  indicated  as 
the  historic  apartments.  In  one  of  these  we  prayed  a 
two-rukka  prayer  and  read  a  passage  from  our  guide¬ 
books  containing  some  appropriate  reflections.  There  is 
nothing  particular  to  see. 

I  have  forgotten  to  mention  the  underground  mosque 
consecrated  to  the  believing  Jinn,*  nor  does  it  merit 
any  elaborate  description.  The  general  appearance  and 
atmosphere  of  the  place  suggest  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta. 

The  only  other  place  worth  visiting  in  Mecca  is  the 
mosque  at  the  summit  of  the  Gebel  Abbais,  but  as  I  was 
told  there  was  nothing  whatever  to  see  there,  and  it  is 
rather  a  stiff  climb,  we  did  not  go.  This  day  was  ob¬ 
served  as  a  sort  of  public  holiday  in  celebration  of  the 
opening  of  the  new  Turkish  Parliament.  A  salute  of 
guns  was  fired  at  midday  and  at  night  there  was  an 
attempt  at  illumination  and  some  fireworks.  A  band 
played  outside  the  Shareef’s  house,  where  there  was  a 
display  of  torches  and  a  considerable  crowd  of  people 
collected. 

Mecca  did  not  however  seem  nearly  so  enthusiastic 
about  the  constitution  as  either  Medina  or  Damascus. 
The  question  seldom  came  up  in  conversation,  and  most 
people  with  whom  I  talked  of  it  seemed  rather  bored 
with  the  whole  subject.  The  local  paper  however  was 
full  of  extravagant  panegyrics  about  the  new  liberty  and 
so  on.  This  paper  is  a  recent  innovation  in  Mecca. 
It  is  published  weekly  under  the  name  of  “  The  Hedjaz,” 
and  consists  of  four  sheets  half  in  Turkish  and  half  in 
Arabic.  If  the  editor  would  decide  to  stick  to  actual 
news,  especially  foreign  intelligence,  he  would  supply  a 
“  long-felt  want.”  News  of  the  outside  world  filters  but 

*  The  Koran  admits  the  existence  of  a  class  of  beings  intermediate 
between  men  and  spirits.  These  are  the  Jinn,  or  “  Genii,”  as  the  word 
commonly  appears  in  English,  who  figure  so  largely  in  Arabian  stories. 
Some  are  good  and  others  evilly  disposed  toward  mankind.  The 
phenomena  of  ancient  magic  and  modern  spiritualism  are  attributed 
to  their  agency. 


148  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 

slowly  into  Mecca,  and  usually  gets  distorted  in  the 
process.  But  as  it  is  the  telegrams  are  of  the  scantiest 
and  most  of  the  paper  is  taken  up  with  drivel  about  free¬ 
dom  and  so  forth — along  with  fantastic  schemes  for  the 
improvement  of  Mecca  itself  which  if  carried  out  would 
quite  destroy  the  unique  charm  of  the  place. 

I  had  some  trouble  in  getting  my  cheque  cashed.  The 
merchant  to  whom  I  had  been  referred  declined  to  honour 
it  on  the  ground  that,  owing  to  some  trouble  that  had 
occurred,  he  had  no  further  business  relations  with 
Abdullah  Waridie.  On  receiving,  some  time  previously, 
the  latter’s  notification  that  he  was  drawing  on  him,  he 
had  written  on  the  subject  and  was  waiting  an  answer. 
In  the  meantime  he  declined  to  do  anything.  For¬ 
tunately  a  letter  from  Abdullah,  containing  a  draft  on 
another  merchant,  arrived  before  my  supplies  were  ex¬ 
hausted  ;  but  it  might  easily  have  been  very  awkward. 
I  decided  that  it  was  less  risky  on  the  whole  to  carry 
one’s  money  in  cash. 

There  are  no  banks  in  the  Hedjaz,  owing  to  an  absurd 
belief  that  the  business  of  a  banker  is  forbidden  by  the 
Koran.  There  is  no  justification  for  this,  and  the  idea 
has  long  been  combated  by  reasonable  people.  The 
prohibition  in  the  Koran  is  against  usury,  and  obviously 
was  never  intended  to  apply  to  reasonable  rates  of  in¬ 
terest  on  deposits  of  money  in  business  affairs.  The 
odd  thing  is  that  any  one  might  start  a  bank  provided 
only  that  he  paid  no  interest  at  all  !  It  is  not  giving 
the  money  to  the  bank  that  is  considered  immoral,  but 
receiving  profit  on  it.  Stranger  still,  they  cannot  see 
that  the  business  of  a  money-changer,  of  whom  there  are 
many  hundreds  in  Mecca  and  Medina,  involves  exactly 
the  same  thing.  The  money-changers  make  their  profits 
by  giving  short  change  ;  thus  in  changing  a  dollar  for 
rupees  they  take  a  few  pice  as  commission,  and  I  believe 
their  business  is  often  very  profitable. 

Several  Hamelidaris  arrived  from  the  Irak,  some  of 
whom  had  known  Abdul  Wahid  and  his  family.  A 
hamelidari  is  a  sort  of  guide  and  contractor  combined, 
who  earns  his  living  by  bringing  pilgrims  to  Mecca, 
fitting  them  out  with  all  they  require,  providing  servants, 
transport,  and  so  on — very  much  like  the  “  Safari  ” 


MECCA 


149 


out-fitters  in  East  Africa.  Many  wealthy  people,  es¬ 
pecially  non -Arabs,  make  the  pilgrimage  in  this  way  ; 
to  those  unacquainted  with  the  country  and  language  it 
is  both  cheaper  and  pleasanter  to  travel  thus  “  personally 
conducted.”  We  soon  had  quite  a  large  circle  of  ac¬ 
quaintances  among  the  hamelidaris  and  the  parties  they 
had  brought.  We  gave  and  went  to  several  dinner 
parties  :  ours,  thanks  to  the  excellence  of  Jaffa’s  cooking, 
were  very  successful.  At  the  last  and  most  ambitious 
of  these  entertainments  we  had  no  less  than  twelve 
guests.  Among  them  was  a  certain  Haji  Magid,  the 
principal  hamelidari  of  Bagdad,  who  runs  his  business 
on  a  very  large  scale,  contracting  for  some  hundreds  of 
pilgrims  annually,  and  is  considered  the  leader  of  the 
profession.  Then  there  were  two  Meccan  Arabs,  friends 
of  mine,  the  Bagdadie  infantry  officer,  Mohammed 
Saeed,  two  Persian  merchants  who  had  brought  turquoises 
to  Mecca,  three  other  hamelidaris,  and  two  Bussorah 
Arabs,  from  among  the  pilgrims  they  had  brought. 

The  Persians  occupying  the  rooms  above  our  own 
kindly  lent  us  their  crockery  and  a  servant.  We  hired 
another  for  the  evening,  as  well  as  extra  pipes  and  many 
other  things  we  required.  Abdul  Wahid  spent  a  busy 
day  in  making  preparations  for  the  feast.  The  party 
assembled  after  the  Aesha  prayer — about  a  quarter  past 
eight.*  Abd-ur-Rahman,  whom  I  had  also  asked,  un¬ 
fortunately  could  not  come.  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  sat  at 
the  end  of  the  room  to  receive  the  guests,  while  Masaudi 
had  charge  of  the  active  operations.  As  each  arrived  he 
came  forward  and  greeted  us — then  modestly  retired  to 
the  other  end  of  the  room  till  told  to  “  come  up  higher.” 
Hagi  Magid  and  one  of  the  Persians,  who  was  a  descendant 
of  the  Prophet,  were  of  course  given  the  places  of  honour 
on  our  right  and  left  respectively.  Then  came  the  in¬ 
fantry  subaltern  and  one  of  my  Meccans,  and  the  rest 
anyhow.  All  having  assembled,  they  were  sprayed  with 
rose  water  and  given  cigarettes,  while  an  elaborately 
embroidered  table  cloth  (hired  for  the  occasion)  was 
spread  on  the  floor  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  The 
dishes,  as  customary,  were  all  brought  in  at  once,  and 

*  In  this  we  were  unfashionable.  Most  people  sup  after  the  prayer 
at  sunset. 


150  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


arranged  in  concentric  circles  ;  they  consisted  of  pilau, 
kubabs  with  tomatoes,  baringan,  cold  chickens,  plain 
roast  camel  and  a  sort  of  soup  ;  with  four  different 
kinds  of  sweets,  macaroons  and  various  cakes,  and  all 
the  fruit  obtainable.  The  'piece  de  resistance  was  the 
pilau,  which  was  composed  of  poussins  covered  with  a 
mixture  of  baked  rice,  nuts,  almonds,  sultanas,  and  spices 
of  all  sorts.*  Iced  drinks  of  various  kinds,  all  of  the 
teetotal  variety  and  equally  nasty,  were  brought  as 
required.  When  all  was  ready  I  gave  the  signal,  we  drew 
up  to  the  tablecloth,  and  started  in  with  the  customary 
“  Bismillahi  ”  (in  the  name  of  God).  We  had  of  course 
previously  rinsed  our  hands  in  water  brought  round  for 
the  purpose.  I  have  no  doubt  they  attributed  their 
having  to  eat  with  their  fingers  to  the  old-fashioned 
customs  still  obtaining  in  Zanzibar,  but  the  real  reason 
was  that  I  could  not  run  to  enough  knives  and  forks  for 
them  all. 

After  dinner  pipes  were  brought,  and  cigarettes  and 
coffee  :  we  smoked  and  talked  for  about  an  hour,  after 
which  our  guests  departed  in  a  body.  This  is  done  in 
order  to  save  the  host  the  trouble  of  seeing  each  one 
separately  to  the  door. 

Hagi  Magid  was  a  friend  of  the  Shareef  of  Mecca,  to 
whom  he  promised  to  introduce  me.  Unfortunately, 
however,  he  had  to  leave  for  Medina  the  following  day, 
charged,  so  it  was  said,  with  some  secret  mission  to  the 
tribes,  so  I  never  got  my  introduction,  for  which  I  was 
rather  sorry. 

Various  contradictory  rumours  were  current  as  to  the 
state  of  affairs  at  Medina.  According  to  some  accounts 
an  agreement  had  been  concluded  between  the  opposing 
parties.  About  the  beginning  of  the  new  month,  the 
remains  of  a  caravan  that  had  set  out  three  weeks 
previously  returned  to  Mecca,  having  been  attacked 
and  plundered  when  almost  in  sight  of  Medina.  It 
seemed  that  the  friendly  Bedou  conducting  it  had  gone 
forward  to  reconnoitre,  and  about  half  the  caravan  had 
followed  them,  contrary  to  orders.  This  half  had  been 

*  There  is  a  small  ice  factory  in  Mecca,  and  iced  cream,  or  rather  a 
frozen  mixture  of  tinned  milk,  dirty  water,  and  cholera  germs,  is  sold 
in  the  streets.  Alcoholic  liquor  is  obtainable  if  you  know  where  to  go 
for  it. 


MECCA 


151 


captured,  but  the  rest  succeeded  in  making  their  escape, 
and  returned  to  Mecca.  As  a  result  however  of  the 
Shareef’s  intervention,  a  temporary  peace  was  patched 
up,  but  I  am  unable  to  say  on  what  terms.  No  one 
seemed  to  think  it  would  last  very  long. 

The  appearance  of  the  new  moon  caused  great  excite¬ 
ment  and  much  disputation.  If  it  were  seen  on  the  first 
evening  after  the  change  it  made  the  day  of  the  journey 
out  to  Arafat  a  Friday — which  is  considered  a  peculiarly 
fortunate  event,  and  the  pilgrimage  in  which  it  occurs  is 
held  to  have  a  value  equivalent  to  seven  pilgrimages  in 
ordinary  years.  It  is  never  quite  certain  whether  or 
not  the  crescent  will  be  visible  on  the  day  after  the  new 
moon,  so  that  there  is  an  element  of  uncertainty  about 
it  that  prevents  people  deliberately  choosing  any  par¬ 
ticular  year.  In  this  case  the  question  gave  rise  to  an 
unusually  large  amount  of  discussion.  Some  people  were 
prepared  to  swear  they  had  actually  seen  it  ;  others 
declared  that  it  was  impossible.  The  balance  of  opinion 
however  inclined  to  the  former  statement,  which  seemed 
well  supported,  and  eventually  the  Shareef  pronounced 
in  favour  of  it,  much  to  every  one’s  delight. 

All  this  time  immense  numbers  of  pilgrims  had  been 
thronging  into  the  city,  and  the  crowd  in  the  streets 
increased  daily.  For  a  week  past  it  had  been  quite 
difficult  to  get  about.  The  Friday  prayer  in  the  Haram 
was  really  a  most  imposing  ceremony.  Scarcely  a  square 
yard  of  the  great  space  remained  unoccupied.  The 
uniform  movements  of  this  vast  concourse  during  the 
prayer,  and  the  strange  stillness  that  pervades,  appeal 
strongly  to  the  imagination.  During  the  segeda,  that 
phase  of  prayer  when  the  forehead  is  placed  on  the  earth, 
not  a  sound  but  the  cooing  of  the  pigeons  breaks  the 
brooding  silence  ;  then,  as  the  hundred  thousand  or  more 
worshippers  rise  to  their  feet,  the  rustle  of  garments  and 
clink  of  weapons  sweeps  over  the  space  like  a  sudden 
gust.  The  moment  the  prayer  is  over  there  is  a  rush 
to  perform  the  towaf,  and  a  few  minutes  later  the  roar 
of  that  human  whirlpool  may  be  heard  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  Haram. 

There  are  as  many  pigeons  here  as  in  the  square  of  St. 
Mark’s  at  Venice,  and  they  are  nearly  as  tame.  Grain  is 


152  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


sold  in  the  Haram  for  the  purpose  of  feeding  them,  but 
they  get  so  much  food  one  way  and  another  that  they  can 
seldom  be  induced  to  partake  of  it.  Burton  remarks 
that  they  are  said  never  to  defile  the  Kaaba  as  they  might 
be  expected  to  do  ;  this  I  believe  is  perfectly  true,  what¬ 
ever  the  explanation  may  be. 

On  the  first  of  the  month  the  “  Ihram,”  a  white  linen 
band,  was  fastened  round  the  black  covering  of  the 
Kaaba.  It  remains  till  the  day  of  the  festival,  when  the 
“  Kiswah,”  that  is  the  covering  itself,  is  changed.  A 
new  kiswah  is  brought  every  year  with  the  Egyptian 
mahmal  ;  it  is  sewn  in  Constantinople  and  is  said  to  cost 
£3,600.  The  material  is  a  mixture  of  silk  and  cotton, 
dull  black  in  colour,  and  embroidered  with  the  name  of 
God  worked  in  black  silk  about  every  square  foot.  The 
old  one  is  cut  up  into  pieces  of  varying  sizes,  which  are 
sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  upkeep  of  the  mosque  and 
charitable  purposes. 

The  Mosque  of  the  Haram  is  unique  in  that  it  has  no 
“  Kibla  ”  or  prayer  direction.  The  Kaaba  itself  being 
the  object  to  which  they  turn,  the  worshippers  at  prayer 
form  circles  round  it  instead  of  the  usual  straight  lines 
looking  in  the  direction  of  Mecca. 

It  is  possible  to  enter  the  Kaaba  itself  on  certain 
occasions,  and  I  had  originally  intended  to  do  so.  The 
rules  regarding  it  however  are  stricter  than  formerly. 
Only  men  of  mature  age  and  of  particularly  blameless 
repute  were  allowed  to  go  inside,  so  Abd-ur-Rahman  told 
me.  It  was  not  proper  to  do  so  unless  prepared  to  devote 
the  rest  of  one’s  life  to  religious  pursuits  and  renounce 
thenceforward  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  Since, 
however,  he  had  himself  been  in,  the  old  sinner  may 
have  intended  this  to  be  facetious.  There  is  nothing 
whatever  inside  except  a  single  wooden  pillar.  It  so 
happened  that  it  was  never  open  when  I  was  present  : 
but  Masaudi  saw  it  open  on  two  occasions,  on  one  of 
which  the  Shareef  and  the  governor  of  Mecca  entered 
together  and  swept  out  the  interior  with  brooms. 

The  mahmal  arrived  from  Egypt  at  the  beginning  of  the* 
month,  and  with  it  a  large  contingent  of  Egyptian  soldiers. 
It  seemed  strange  to  see  the  familiar  khaki  uniforms  and 
medal  ribbons  in  this  place,  I  was  pleased  to  see  that 


Mecca  :  the  Haram. 


MECCA 


153 


their  turn-out  was  very  much  smarter  than  that  of  the 
Turkish  troops  who  came  afterwards  with  the  Syrian 
mahmal.  It  speaks  well  for  British  methods  that  they 
should  have  made  such  good  soldiers  out  of  so  unwarlike 
a  people  as  the  modern  Egyptians.  Every  one  was  im¬ 
pressed  by  the  smartness  of  their  uniforms  and  the 
precision  of  their  drill. 

It  was  now  time  to  make  preparations  for  the  pil¬ 
grimage.  We  should  be  absent  from  Mecca  for  four  whole 
days,  and  arrangements  for  transport  and  food  supply 
had  to  be  made.  We  agreed  that  it  would  not  do  in  the 
circumstances  to  be  too  economical,  and  that  our  equip¬ 
ment  had  better  be  of  a  nature  suitable  to  my  supposed 
rank  and  wealth.  We  decided  to  hire  three  camels  and 
three  riding  donkeys,  and  to  take  on  one  extra  servant 
and  another  big  tent  in  which  to  receive  visitors.  I  gave 
Abdul  Wahid  carte  blanche  as  regards  the  commissariat 
department,  and  he  certainly  “  did  us  proud.”  We  had 
lost  the  services  of  Ibrahim  because  he  was  performing 
a  “  pilgrimage  by  proxy.”  According  to  this  idea  a 
pilgrimage  may  be  made  on  behalf  of  any  dead  person, 
and  even  in  certain  cases  on  behalf  of  one  still  living. 
Having  arrived  in  Mecca  and  performed  the  towaf  on 
his  own  account,  the  pilgrim  must  leave  the  city  and 
change  into  the  Ihram  again  somewhere  outside.  Thence¬ 
forward  he  performs  all  prayers  and  ceremonies  in  the 
name  of  the  person  he  is  representing.  Many  Sheia  sects 
believe  in  the  efficacy  of  this. 

The  institution  of  the  “  Hag  ”  is  as  follows.  On  a 
certain  fixed  day  in  each  year,  the  8th  of  the  month  of 
Dhu’lhagga,  all  grown-up  persons  in  a  fit  state  of  health 
must  leave  the  city  before  nightfall  and  proceed  to  a 
village  called  Mina,  about  five  miles  to  the  north.  They 
must  pass  the  night  here  and  go  on  the  following  morning 
to  Mount  Arafat,  nine  miles  farther,  where  they  must 
remain  till  the  sun  has  set  ;  then  returning,  they  sleep 
at  Nimrah,  midway  between  Arafat  and  Mina.  The 
third  day  they  must  get  back  to  Mina  in  the  morning,  go 
through  the  ceremony  of  throwing  stones  at  the  three 
“  devils,”  then  go  on  to  Mecca,  perform  the  “  towaf  ” 
and  the  “  saa,”  and  once  more  return  to  Mina  for  the 
night.  The  fourth  day  is  the  festival  and  is  spent  at 


154  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Mina.  At  noon  on  the  fifth  they  return  to  Mecca  after 
once  more  throwing  the  stones.  From  the  time  of 
leaving  Mecca  up  to  the  first  return  there,  the  Ihram  is 
worn  ;  but  as  soon  as  possible  after  leaving  the  Haram 
on  that  occasion,  it  is  finally  doffed  and  exchanged  for 
the  finest  raiment  the  pilgrim  can  afford,  which  should 
if  possible  be  brand  new.  Those  who  complete  these 
ceremonies  are  thenceforward  entitled  to  the  appellation 
of  Hagi  before  or  after  their  names,  and  are  distinguished 
in  after  life  by  special  headgear  which  varies  in  different 
countries.  In  Egypt  they  wear  green  turbans,  in  Zanzi¬ 
bar  the  coloured  straw  hats  and  white  turbans  generally 
worn  by  the  Mutowifs — and  so  on.  I  could  never  make 
out  exactly  at  what  point  one  becomes  a  “  hagi.”  Ac¬ 
cording  to  some,  to  arrive  at  Arafat  on  the  appointed  day 
is  sufficient  to  confer  the  title  ;  others  think  it  dates 
from  kissing  the  black  stone  at  the  end  of  the  “  towaf  ” 
ceremony  on  the  third  day.  A  man  visiting  Mecca  out¬ 
side  the  pilgrimage  season,  or  one  who  was  prevented  by 
illness  from  performing  these  ceremonies  on  the  proper 
days,  would  not  be  entitled  to  the  distinction.  The 
inhabitants  of  Mecca  are  not  exempted  from  making  the 
pilgrimage  every  year.  They  have  to  go  forth  with  the 
rest,  so  that  for  two  days  the  city  is  practically  deserted. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  enter  into  the  origin  of  all 
these  rites,  even  were  I  capable  of  doing  so  efficiently. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  there  is  a  raison  d'etre  for  every¬ 
thing.  It  is  frequently  contended  that  much  of  it  is 
ridiculous  ;  but  precisely  the  same  may  be  held  by  the 
sceptic  to  apply  to  any  religious  function.  Like  the 
“  Lord’s  Supper  ”  of  the  Christians,  and  the  “  Passover  ” 
of  the  Jews,  these  things  are  done  in  commemoration  of 
past  events  and  have  a  symbolical  significance.  Nothing 
is  easier  than  to  make  fun  of  them  all. 

The  question  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  every  one  just 
before  the  pilgrimage  is  whether  there  will  be  any  sickness 
— that  is  to  say,  plague  or  cholera.  In  this  particular 
pilgrimage  the  danger  loomed  larger  than  usual,  owing 
to  the  terrible  epidemic  of  the  previous  year.  It  seems 
that  the  disease  appeared  on  that  occasion  about  a  month 
before  the  “  Khuroog  ”  (or  “going  out”),  and  steadily 
gained  ground  ;  but  it  was  only  after  Arafat  that  it  began 


MECCA 


155 


to  assume  the  gigantic  proportions  it  finally  attained. 
The  pestilence  then  appeared  in  its  most  virulent  form, 
and  at  Mina  and  during  the  succeeding  week  destroyed 
at  the  most  generally  accepted  estimate  a  thousand  a 
day.  The  recurrent  peril  of  these  devastating  epidemics 
and  the  immense  loss  of  life  caused  by  them  might  be 
met  to  some  extent  by  stringent  regulations,  preventing 
people  setting  out  for  Mecca  with  insufficient  means,  and 
by  improving  the  sanitary  conditions  on  the  spot.  The 
present  quarantine  system  is  useless. 

This  year,  however,  conditions  were  exceptionally 
favourable  ;  the  weather  was  unusually  cool  for  the 
season,  the  number  of  pilgrims  was  not  so  large  as 
usual,  and  there  were  fewer  of  the  very  poor,  who,  by 
camping  in  the  open  under  most  insanitary  conditions, 
are  always  the  focus  of  infection.  So  far  as  was  known  at 
the  time  of  the  Khuroog,  no  case  of  cholera  or  plague  had 
occurred  in  Mecca,  though  two  cases  of  the  latter  disease 
had  been  discovered  in  Jiddah.  The  bubonic  plague, 
though  equally  deadly,  is  not  nearly  so  much  to  be  feared 
as  cholera,*  owing  to  its  comparatively  slow  rate  of  pro¬ 
gress,  and  the  fact  that  the  multitude  gathered  together 
in  Mecca,  which  is  the  source  of  danger,  disperses  almost 
immediately  after  the  pilgrimage. 

•  •  •  •  • 

A  certain  number  of  people  left  for  Mina  as  early  as 
the  Tuesday  ;  by  midday  on  the  Wednesday  the  road 
to  that  place,  which  led  close  by  our  house,  was  blocked 
by  a  seemingly  endless  train  of  camels,  which  continued 
to  pass  all  that  night  and  all  the  following  day.  The 
majority  of  the  shops  and  markets  were  closed  on  Wed¬ 
nesday  evening — a  few  remained  open  on  Thursday 
morning  ;  but  by  noon  on  that  day  all  business  had 
ceased. 

We  decided  to  postpone  our  own  exit  till  as  late  as 
possible — that  is  to  say,  Thursday  evening.  By  taking 
up  a  position  on  the  roof  we  were  able  to  overlook  the 
road,  and  a  strange  sight  it  presented  that  day.  About 
two  o’clock  the  Syrian  mahmal  passed,  escorted  by  a 
brass  band  and  a  regiment,  the  soldiers,  like  the  rest, 

*  Should,,  however,  pneumonic  plague  ever  appear  here  in  epidemic 
form  the  consequences  are  likely  to  be  appalling  indeed. 


156  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


now  wearing  the  “  Ihram.”  Shortly  afterwards  came 
His  Highness  Es-seyyid  Hussein,  the  Shareef  of  Mecca, 
riding  a  white  horse  and  followed  at  a  respectful  distance 
by  his  family,  and  other  dignitaries,  also  on  horseback, 
and  behind  them  again  by  a  crowd  of  spearmen  mounted 
on  the  far-famed  racing  camels,  whose  pedigree  is  almost 
as  long  as  that  of  the  Shareef  himself.  As  he  passed  the 
bystanders  saluted  him  with  low  “salaams,”  which  I 
observed  he  was  very  careful  to  acknowledge.  Though 
attired  in  nothing  but  bath  towels,  he  yet  managed  to 
look  perfectly  dignified. 

The  Egyptian  mahmal  and  its  cortege  passed  a  little 
later  to  the  tune  of  the  “Barren  Rocks  of  Aden,”  and 
was  followed  by  several  Turkish  regiments  with  colours 
flying  and  bands  playing. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 

At  about  five  o’clock  we  ourselves  donned  the  Ihrarn 
after  making  our  “nia,”  or  formal  vow  to  perform  the 
pilgrimage.  Our  luggage  and  servants  had  been  sent  on 
in  the  morning,  and  we  hoped  to  find  all  in  readiness  on 
our  arrival. 

We  mounted  our  donkeys,  fine  big  animals  well  over 
eleven  hands,  I  should  say,  and  rode  out  accompanied 
by  the  hamelidari  we  were  employing,  Jaffa  by  name, 
his  son,  and  the  three  Persians  who  had  been  occupying 
the  rooms  above  our  own  suite.  Progress  was  slow  at 
first  owing  to  the  narrowness  of  the  way  ;  but  on  leaving 
the  town,  the  road  broadened  out,  and  we  got  along 
faster,  and  were  able  to  canter  part  of  the  way.  The 
road  rises  gently  between  low  stony  kopjes  ;  it  is  paved 
in  some  places,  but  elsewhere  not  even  metalled.  We 
reached  Mina  shortly  after  dark,  and  found  Jaffa,  our 
cook,  awaiting  us  on  the  road. 

We  were  conducted  to  our  tents,  which  we  found  had 
been  pitched  a  short  distance  beyond,  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  great  encampment,  not  far  from  the  blaze  of 
torches  that  indicated  the  quarters  of  the  Shareef.  We 
dined  in  comfort,  and  afterwards  listened  to  a  reading 
by  the  leader  of  our  Persian  acquaintances,  who  was  a 
descendant  of  the  Prophet,  and  by  way  of  being  a  learned 
man.  Strictly  speaking,  we  ought  to  have  gone  to  the 
mosque  of  Mina  for  the  Aesha  prayer,  but  few  people 
do  so  nowadays.  One  would  run  a  very  good  chance 
of  losing  one’s  self  for  one  thing,  and  this  is  none  too  safe 
a  place  after  dark.  We  turned  in  early,  knowing  that 
the  next  day  would  tax  all  our  endurance. 

We  struck  camp  at  dawn  and  sent  the  servants  and 
tents  forward  with  the  camels.  I  never  expected  to  find 

157 


158  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


them  again  ;  but  Jaffa,  our  hamelidari,  who  had  now 
taken  charge,  seemed  quite  confident  about  it.  We 
ourselves  went  into  Mina  and  waited  a  couple  of  hours 
in  a  cafe  there  before  going  forward.  We  finally  started 
about  eight  o’clock.  The  road  leaving  the  village  runs 
due  east,  and  is  on  the  average  about  half  a  mile  wide, 
except  in  two  places  where  it  passes  through  defiles  and 
narrows  down  to  a  couple  of  hundred  yards.  After 
riding  for  about  an  hour,  we  halted  at  one  of  the  many 
refreshment  booths  pitched  at  intervals  along  the  road 
and  had  some  breakfast. 

To  do  justice  to  the  extraordinary  scene  would  require 
a  descriptive  skill  that  I  do  not  possess.  The  best  idea 
of  what  it  is  like  will  be  gained  by  considering  that  at 
least  half  a  million  people  are  traversing  these  nine  miles 
of  road  between  sunrise  and  ten  o’clock  this  day  ;  that 
about  half  of  them  are  mounted,  and  that  many  of  them 
possess  baggage-animals  as  well.  The  roar  of  this  great 
column  is  like  a  breaking  sea,  and  the  dust  spreads 
for  miles  over  the  surrounding  country.  When,  passing 
through  the  second  defile,  we  came  in  sight  of  Arafat 
itself,  the  spectacle  was  stranger  still.  The  hfil  was 
literally  black  with  people,  and  tents  were  springing  up 
round  it,  hundreds  to  the  minute,  in  an  ever- widening 
circle.  As  we  approached,  the  dull  murmur  caused  by 
thousands  of  people  shouting  the  formula,  “  Lebeka 
lebeka,  Allahooma  lebeka,”  which  had  long  been  audible, 
became  so  loud  that  it  dominated  every  other  sound.  In 
the  distance  it  had  sounded  rather  ominous,  suggestive 
of  some  deep  disturbance  of  great  power,  like  the  rumble 
of  an  earthquake. 

Mount  Arafat  is  a  hill  about  four  hundred  feet  in  height, 
pyramidical  in  shape,  and  strewn  with  great  boulders.  At 
the  base  of  it  are  the  springs  which  feed  the  conduit 
leading  to  Mecca.  On  the  summit  there  is  a  paved  plat¬ 
form  surmounted  by  a  stone  beacon.  The  surrounding 
country  is  rough  and  mountainous,  especially  to  the  east, 
but  Arafat  itself  stands  isolated  in  the  middle  of  a  level, 
scrub-covered  plain.  The  camp  is  formed  round  the  hill 
on  the  flat,  and  covers  many  square  miles. 

Thanks  to  the  excellence  of  Jaffa’s  arrangements  and 
the  punctuality  with  which  his  orders  had  been  carried 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


159 


out,  we  found  our  tents  almost  at  once.  Their  position 
was  on  the  very  border  of  the  camp — the  best  place,  for 
many  reasons — and  several  of  our  acquaintances  were 
congregated  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  Every  one  was 
in  the  best  of  spirits,  and  there  was  nothing  in  their 
demeanour  to  denote  that  the  assembly  had  any  religious 
significance.  It  was  more  suggestive  of  a  gigantic  picnic- 
party  than  anything  else. 

We  rested  an  hour  in  the  shade  of  our  tent  and  then 
ascended  the  hill  to  pray  the  customary  two  rukkas  on 
the  platform  on  top.  The  whole  of  the  pilgrimage  was 
now  assembled,  and  the  view  from  the  summit  gave  an 
idea  of  the  vast  number  present.  It  was  curious  to  reflect 
that  the  day  before  this  hill  was  silent  and  deserted,  as 
it  would  be  again  to-morrow,  and  as  it  would  remain  till 
each  succeeding  year  brought  round  the  “  day  of  Arafat.” 
In  fact,  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for  any  small  party 
to  get  here  at  all  on  any  other  day,  so  infested  with 
robbers  is  this  part  of  the  country. 

The  hour  of  the  midday  prayer  arrived  while  we  were 
on  the  summit.  A  salute  of  sixty-three  guns  was  fired, 
numerous  bands  struck  up,  and  the  crowd  cheered  them¬ 
selves  hoarse.  There  were  in  all  three  six-gun  batteries 
present,  and  two  mountain  guns  carried  on  mules. 

Descending  the  mountain,  we  inspected  some  large 
tanks  filled  by  the  springs,  in  which  many  people  were 
bathing.  The  water  was  very  dirty,  and  the  flanks  of 
the  hill,  where  many  thousands  of  the  poorer  pilgrims 
were  seeking  shelter  among  the  rocks,  were  in  a  horribly 
dirty  condition.  It  is  not  surprising  that  infectious 
diseases  spread  rapidly  amid  such  surroundings  ;  the 
astonishing  thing  is  that  cholera,  once  started,  does  not 
make  a  clean  sweep  of  the  whole  pilgrimage. 

A  market  had  been  established,  where  food  of  various 
sorts  was  being  sold,  and  there  were  also  a  number  of 
refreshment  tents  where  drinks  and  so  on  were  obtainable. 
We  strolled  about  for  some  time  ;  but  finding  the  midday 
sun  on  our  bare  heads  rather  trying,  we  returned  to  lunch 
in  our  tent. 

A  rumour  that  had  been  current  earlier  in  the  day  now 
received  confirmation.  It  appeared  that  the  Sheie  sect 
was  dissatisfied  with  the  Shareefs  ruling  about  the  new 


160  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


moon,  and  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  day  was 
not  the  ninth  of  the  month,  but  the  eighth,  and  that, 
consequently,  the  proceedings  were  null  and  void.  They 
therefore  decided  to  stay  the  night  at  Arafat,  and  remain 
there  the  following  day  till  sundown. 

It  was  difficult  to  believe  that  sensible,  educated  men 
such  as  the  Persian  Sheia  we  had  met  could  acquiesce 
in  such  “pig-headed”  behaviour.  The  Persian  mind 
is  always  difficult  to  fathom.  Though  more  civilized  in 
many  ways  than  the  Arabs,  they  are  at  the  same  time 
more  fanatical  and  less  reasonable  in  their  religious 
beliefs.  One  of  their  favourite  pursuits  is  the  recital  of 
the  “  Death  of  Hussein,”  which  is  read  or  repeated  by 
some  elder  among  them  while  the  remainder  sit  round 
and  positively  howl  with  grief.  It  is  all  worked  out  ;  as 
the  story  reaches  a  certain  point  you  must  sniffle,  a  little 
later  burst  into  tears,  and  so  on.  No  one  attempts  to 
defend  the  murder  of  Hussein,  which  is  really  a  most  tragic 
story  ;  but  the  other  sects  of  Islam  rightly  regard  this 
sort  of  thing  as  nonsense.  Some  of  the  Sheia  sects  have 
all  sorts  of  strange  customs  in  the  month  of  Muharram  : 
among  other  things  they  beat  themselves  and  cut  their 
heads  with  knives,  and  generally  behave  more  like  Red 
Indians  than  a  civilized  and  cultured  Asiatic  race. 

The  weakness  of  Islam  as  a  political  force  at  the  present 
day  is  due  very  largely  to  this  quarrel  over  the  rights  and 
wrongs  of  men  who  died  and  were  buried  more  than  a 
thousand  years  ago.  Preposterous  as  it  all  may  seem,  it 
must  yet  be  borne  in  mind  that  Christendom  to-day  is 
profoundly  divided  over  such  questions  as  transub- 
stantiation  and  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope,  which  appear 
just  as  ridiculous  in  Moslem  eyes. 

In  consequence  of  this  decision  of  their  chiefs  the  whole 
of  the  Sheie  division,  amounting  to  perhaps  a  quarter  of 
the  total  pilgrimage,  remained  behind  when  the  rest 
returned  to  Nimrah.  The  tents  were  struck  and  the 
camels  loaded  up  in  good  time,  but  no  one  might  start  back 
till  the  sun  had  actually  set.  When  the  Shareef  finally 
gave  the  signal,  a  salute  of  guns  was  fired,  and  a  few 
minutes  later  the  great  multitude  was  streaming  across 
the  plain  and  converging  on  the  first  of  the  two  defiles 
we  had  to  pass.  There  was  a  tremendous  crush  in  the 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


161 


narrower  parts  and  considerable  risk  to  life  and  limb  ; 
but  we  managed  to  keep  our  party  together  and  escape 
disaster.  A  ride  of  two  hours  brought  us  opposite  the 
mosque  of  Nimrah,  where  we  camped  but  did  not  pitch 
tents.  The  whole  of  the  pilgrimage  had  not  assembled 
by  midnight,  and  the  noise  and  dust  would  have  rendered 
sleep  impossible  had  we  been  less  tired. 

We  started  for  Mina  before  sunrise  and  got  there  by 
about  half -past  seven.  We  were  fortunate  in  securing  a 
very  good  place  for  our  tents,  not  far  from  the  Shareef’s 
pavilion  and  army  headquarters.  The  first  thing  we 
had  to  do  was  to  stone  the  three  devils.  The  previous 
evening  Jaffa  and  Masaudi  had  collected  pebbles  for  this 
purpose — for  they  have  to  be  brought  from  Nimrah — 
sixty-three  of  them  for  each  person.  The  devils  are 
known  respectively  as  the  “  big  devil,”  the  “  little  devil,” 
and  the  “  middling  devil,”  and  they  mark  the  positions 
of  pre-Islamic  idols  which  were  destroyed  by  the  Prophet. 
The  ceremony  of  stoning  them  is  of  course  intended  to 
symbolize  contempt  and  derision  for  all  such  heathen 
gods.  I  believe  that  it  originated  in  the  difficulty  the 
Prophet  found  in  completely  eradicating  the  old  super¬ 
stitions  ,  for  though  the  people  had  renounced  their  former 
gods,  they  were  still  a  little  afraid  of  them,  and  not 
inclined  to  be  too  disrespectful  at  first.  He  therefore 
made  his  followers  throw  stones  at  the  old  idols  in  order 
to  convince  them  of  the  absurdity  of  their  fears. 

The  first  two  “  devils  ”  are  in  the  main  street  of 
Mina,  the  third  a  little  way  down  on  the  right  of  the  road 
going  to  Mecca.  They  consist  of  stone  pillars,  and  stand 
in  a  sort  of  basin  like  the  basin  of  a  fountain.  All  of  them, 
by  the  time  we  got  there,  were  surrounded  by  a  surging 
crowd  topped  by  waving  arms  and  obscured  in  a  perfect 
haze  of  stones.  It  was  long  before  we  could  get  within  shot 
at  all,  and  in  the  end  we  had  to  discharge  our  missiles  at 
long  range  with  the  result  that  most  of  mine,  I  am  afraid, 
fell  short.  There  is  no  necessity  to  hit  the  target,  but  if 
you  go  short  or  over  it  you  are  bound  to  hit  somebody  in 
the  crowd.  Enthusiasts  who  get  too  close  frequently 
have  a  very  bad  time  ;  a  man  standing  close  to  me  had 
his  cheek  laid  open,  and  Masaudi  got  a  cut  on  the  ear. 

So  dense  was  the  crowd  in  the  streets  that  it  took  us 

11 


162  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


more  than  an  hour  to  get  through  the  stoning  ceremony, 
and  the  sun  was  high  before  we  got  back  to  the  tent. 
We  rested  awhile  and  breakfasted  before  going  out  again 
to  perform  the  sacrifice.  Every  pilgrim  must  this  day 
sacrifice  an  animal  of  some  sort,  and  a  sheep  or  goat  is 
usually  chosen.  The  meat  may  be  eaten, »or  preferably 
given  to  the  poor.  When  this  rule  was  made  by  the 
Prophet  he  probably  did  not  conceive  the  enormous 
dimensions  the  Hag  would  eventually  attain,  for  nowa¬ 
days  this  immense  number  of  animals  is  quite  uselessly 
destroyed.  Formerly  the  carcasses  were  allowed  to 
rot  on  the  ground,  with  the  result  that  Mina  for  some 
time  afterwards  was  practically  uninhabitable.  Of  late 
years,  however,  large  pits  have  been  dug  for  their  re¬ 
ception,  which  are  filled  in  at  the  end  of  the  day.  In 
consequence  of  the  last  year’s  cholera  epidemic  unusual 
precautions  were  taken  on  this  occasion.  The  animals 
had  all  been  collected  together  at  a  certain  spot  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  our  tent.  Each  beast  as  it  was 
sacrificed  had  to  be  taken  away  at  once  or  else  thrown 
into  one  of  the  pits,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  take  away 
any  live  animals.  This  was  intended  to  prevent  slaughter¬ 
ing  in  the  camp,  with  its  attendant  dangers  to  health. 
Numerous  guards  had  been  posted  to  enforce  due  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  these  very  excellent  regulations,  which  were 
however  rather  irksome.  We  wanted  some  meat,  and 
it  is  much  easier  to  drive  a  live  animal  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  than  to  carry  a  dead  one.  The  son  of  our  hamelidari 
Jaffa,  and  myself,  lighted  upon  a  peculiarly  fat  sheep, 
which  we  decided  to  take  home  ;  and  as  we  did  not  fancy 
carrying  it  we  bribed  a  sentry  to  let  us  through.  Un¬ 
fortunately  on  the  way  back  we  attracted  the  attention 
of  one  of  the  doctors  in  charge  of  the  sanitary  arrange¬ 
ments,  who  galloped  up  on  horseback,  and  after  abusing 
us  roundly  made  us  take  it  back,  and  promised  us  a  dose 
of  “  koorbag  ”  if  we  tried  it  on  again,  which  I  confess 
I  think  we  quite  deserved.  We  eventually  had  to  send 
the  servants  to  bring  meat. 

The  sheep  cost  from  a  dollar  upwards,  and  are  sold 
by  the  Bedou  shepherds  from  the  surrounding  country, 
who  must  make  a  very  good  thing  out  of  it.  At  least 
half  a  million  are  sacrificed  annually  on  this  day. 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


168 


An  incident  that  Jana  witnessed  here  the  year  before 
illustrates  the  state  of  insecurity  in  this  country.  A 
Turk  had  bought  a  sheep,  and  in  the  act  of  paying  for 
it  took  off  a  money -belt  heavy  with  coin.  The  Bedoui 
made  a  sudden  snatch  at  it,  caught  one  end,  and  tried  to 
pull  it  away.  The  Turk  hung  on  gamely,  but  the  other, 
drawing  his  dagger,  completely  disembowelled  him  with 
a  single  downward  stroke,  and  taking  the  belt  escaped 
through  the  crowd.  And  this  took  place  in  the  midst  of 
a  camp  of  half  a  million  people,  with  pickets  posted  and 
sentries  standing  by  !  Some  of  the  latter  fired  at  the 
robber,  but  merely  succeeded  in  killing  a  bystander. 
Once  away  among  the  hills  nothing  could  touch  him — 
pursuit  was  out  of  the  question. 

Having  slain  our  victims,  which  by  the  way  it  is 
unnecessary  to  do  with  one’s  own  hand,  our  business  at 
Mina  was  over  for  the  day,  and  we  could  go  on  to  Mecca. 
Our  donkeys  being  brought,  we  started  directly  after 
the  noonday  prayer.  The  road  was  of  course  very 
crowded,  and  for  the  first  half-hour  we  had  to  move  at 
a  snail’s  pace. 

The  appearance  of  the  city  was  strange  indeed  :  every¬ 
thing  was  closed,  the  shops  and  houses  were  barred  and 
bolted,  yet  the  streets  were  full  of  people.  Hot  and 
dusty,  we  reached  the  Haram,  engaged  a  Mutowif  and  per¬ 
formed  the  towaf,  this  time  all  three  together.  We  had 
considerable  difficulty  in  kissing  the  black  stone.  The 
Kaaba  was  now  dressed  in  its  new  covering,  and  the  hole 
left  for  the  purpose  had  not  yet  been  widenc  d  sufficiently 
to  admit  more  than  one  head  at  a  time.  A  crowd  of 
Bedou  Arabs  surrounded  it,  amongst  whom  we  pushed 
our  way,  Masaudi  and  I,  for  Abdul  Wahid  was  not  for 
risking  broken  ribs  in  the  crush.  The  whole  thing  re¬ 
sembled  what  we  used  to  call  a  “  loose  hot  ”  at  Win¬ 
chester  football.  At  last  I  got  my  head  through,  getting 
it  violently  bumped  in  the  process,  kissed  the  stone,  and 
emerged  from  the  throng  minus  the  shoulder-cloth  of  my 
Ihram  and  a  good  deal  of  skin  belonging  to  different 
parts  of  my  anatomy.  I  was  more  fortunate  than  one 
man,  who  lost  his  loin  cloth  as  well  and  came  out  stark 
naked,  much  to  the  delight  of  bystanders.  Masaudi 
having  retrieved  my  garment  we  passed  out  to  perform 


164  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


the  “  saa  ”  between  Safa  and  Marawa.  This  was  merely 
a  repetition  of  what  we  had  done  on  our  arrival,  but  it 
took  longer  owing  to  the  number  of  people  :  at  times 
we  were  unable  to  move  forward.  The  different  parts 
of  the  prayer  yelled  out  by  the  Mutowifs  in  charge  of 
each  party,  the  endeavours  of  the  pilgrims  to  follow 
correctly,  the  complaints  of  women  jostled  in  the  throng, 
and  the  imprecations  of  the  men,  form  a  curious  medley  : 
“  Oh  God,  Thou  knowest — what  we  know  not — Slowly 
there  !  damn  your  ancestors  ! — keep  us  in  the  straight 
road  ” — and  so  on.  One  man,  an  Indian,  who  had 
seemingly  lost  his  Mutowif,  jogged  along  behind  us  for 
some  time  bleating  like  a  lost  sheep,  “  Oh  God,  keep  me 
among  the  wicked  men.”  What  he  was  trying  to  say 
meant  of  course  precisely  the  opposite. 

Having  concluded  the  seventh  turn,  wTe  were  taken 
before  an  elderly  sheikh  armed  with  a  razor  who,  after 
inquiring  my  name  and  sect,  proceeded  to  shave  about 
a  square  inch  of  hair  off  my  right  temple,  declaiming 
the  while  a  prayer  which  I  had  to  repeat  after  him.  This 
was  the  formal  vow  to  quit  the  state  of  Ihram  and  re¬ 
sume  the  normal  secular  condition.  His  work  com¬ 
pleted,  he  invoked  a  blessing  and  went  on  to  do  the  same 
for  Masaudi.  Having  paid  him  and  the  Mutowif  for 
their  services,  we  returned  to  our  house  on  foot,  as  the 
donkeys  had  gone  off  to  get  a  well-earned  feed. 

A  black  slave  had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  house,  and 
we  were  the  first  to  return,  for  the  Persian  contingent 
was  still  at  Arafat.  We  had  some  difficulty  in  getting 
water  for  the  baths  we  were  longing  for,  as  a  famine 
had  set  in  owing  to  some  obstruction  in  the  conduit. 
We  had  at  last  to  pay  a  rupee  for  two  skins-full.  With 
a  sigh  of  relief  I  finally  laid  aside  the  Ihram,  which  hence¬ 
forward  might  be  used  for  bath  towels  without  im¬ 
propriety — though  some  people,  having  first  washed  it 
in  water  from  the  holy  well,  prefer  to  keep  it  among  their 
household  treasures  in  memory  of  this  great  occasion.  Cer¬ 
tainly  it  is  a  most  draughty  and  uncomfortable  costume, 
and  in  so  far  as  it  is  intended  as  a  penance  abundantly 
serves  its  purpose.  My  back  was  raw  from  exposure  to 
the  sun,  and  even  my  head  somewhat  blistered. 

We  had  now  to  dress  ourselves  in  the  best  clothes  we 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


165 


possessed,  and  we  were  all  provided  with  new  suits  for 
the  occasion  in  accordance  with  the  accepted  custom. 
This  is  done  partly  in  honour  of  the  festival,  and  partly 
because  the  new-made  Hagi  is  believed  to  start  with  a 
clean  44  defaulter  sheet,”  all  his  previous  sins  and  errors 
being  completely  remitted,  and  the  new  clothes  are  held 
symbolical  of  his  spiritual  condition.  The  completion  of 
the  Hag  is  therefore  the  appropriate  moment  for  making 
new  resolutions,  breaking  off  old  habits,  and  so  on. 

I  had  white  cloth  robes,  a  black  jubba,  and  gold 
sash,  with  a  dagger  ;  Masaudi  was  somewhat  elaborately 
attired  in  the  44  Kanzu  ”  of  Zanzibar,  a  regimental  Mess 
waistcoat  (pattern  obsolete,  needless  to  say,  as  it 
was  several  years  since  I  had  paid  about  £10  for  it), 
and  a  gold-embroidered  44  joho  ” — a  garment  peculiar 
to  Muscat  and  its  former  dependencies.  Abdul  Wahid 
looked  peculiarly  bilious  in  a  yellow  Kuftan  he  had 
bought  in  Damascus. 

Our  donkeys  having  been  brought,  we  rode  back  to 
Mina,  starting  just  before  sundown.  We  had  not  gone 
far  when  Masaudi 44  took  a  toss  ”  which  somewhat  marred 
the  beauty  of  his  appearance,  and  was  immediately 
followed  by  Abdul  Wahid,  that  being  his  seventh  in 
the  three  days.  The  wretched  donkeys  were  dead  beat, 
and  could  hardly  keep  their  feet  even  at  a  walk.  When 
we  started  to  canter  I  fell  off.  The  Arabian  donkeys 
are  given  neither  saddle  nor  stirrups,  but  a  pile  of  cloths, 
often  elaborately  embroidered,  is  strapped  across  their 
backs,  which  is  really  much  more  comfortable,  but  difficult 
to  hold  on  to,  especially  when  compelled  by  one’s  costume 
to  ride  side-saddle. 

We  reached  Mina  just  as  the  salute  of  guns  was  an¬ 
nouncing  the  hour  of  the  Aesha  prayer.  Twenty-one 
guns  are  fired  by  each  battery  at  each  of  the  five  daily 
prayers  during  the  days  of  the  festival.  Being  very 
tired,  we  turned  in  directly  after  dinner. 

Our  tent  was  a  large  one,  about  fifteen  feet  in  diameter. 
The  three  of  us — Abdul  Wahid,  Masaudi,  and  myself — 
slept  with  our  feet  toward  the  pole  and  our  heads  out¬ 
wards — like  spokes  of  a  wheel.  In  the  middle  we  had 
collected  what  little  luggage  we  had  brought  out  and  a 
few  other  odd  belongings.  The  principal  thing  was  a 


166  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


brown  bag  containing  about  £5  in  gold,  a  beautifully 
bound  Koran  I  had  bought  for  thirty  shillings  two  days 
before  the  “  Khuroog,”  a  string  of  amber  beads,  and  a 
couple  of  spare  pistols.  We  seem  to  have  slept  heavily 
that  night,  for  when  Masaudi,  the  first  to  awake,  looked 
round  next  morning  the  bag  was  gone,  and  so  were  several 
other  things,  including  his  beautiful  new  turban.  Some 
tracks  in  the  sand  and  a  round  hole  in  the  fly  of  the  tent 
remained  to  show  how  the  thief  had  come  upon  us. 
There  was  of  course  nothing  to  be  done,  but  the  incident 
serves  to  illustrate  the  daring  of  these  robbers.  To  break 
into  a  tent  where  three  armed  men  are  sleeping  in  the 
middle  of  a  well-guarded  camp  and  abstract  their  belong¬ 
ings  is  no  mean  feat.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we  probably 
came  well  out  of  it,  for  had  one  of  us  stirred  while  the 
thief  was  in  the  tent  a  knife -thrust  would  probably  have 
prolonged  his  sleep  to  the  Day  of  Judgment.  This  is 
how  people  who  live  in  such  places  acquire  the  habit,  as 
many  notice,  of  remaining  quite  motionless  when  they 
are  waking  from  sleep  until  they  have  become  com¬ 
pletely  conscious  of  their  surroundings.  It  is  unsafe  to 
touch  an  Arab  of  the  desert  in  order  to  wake  him.  Of 
course,  had  we  been  so  fortunate  as  to  catch  the  thief  in 
the  act,  he  would  have  been  shot  on  the  instant.  We 
had  frequently  been  warned  of  these  dangers,  and  never 
slept  without  weapons  ready  to  hand. 

On  our  way  out  we  had  passed  a  party  of  nineteen 
thieves  chained  together  on  their  way  to  Mecca.  Of  these 
six  were  shot,  and  the  remainder  had  their  right  hands 
cut  off.  This  latter  method  of  punishment  is  sometimes 
considered  barbarous  by  Europeans,  but  is  endorsed  by 
all  reasonable  people  in  these  countries.  Violent  remedies 
are  necessary  when  dealing  with  dangerous  diseases. 

The  loss  of  the  bag  was  really  most  annoying,  as  I 
could  not  afford  to  replace  the  things.  This  was  the 
nineteenth  “  sibhah  55  (string  of  beads)  that  I  had  lost  on 
the  journey.  It  is  a  failing  of  mine  to  leave  them  about  in 
all  sorts  of  places,  and  it  had  become  quite  a  standing 
joke  with  Masaudi. 

This,  the  Sunday,  was  the  day  of  the  festival.  Every 
one  was  dressed  in  his  smartest  clothes,  and  the  whole 
camp  presented  a  very  picturesque  appearance.  In 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


167 


the  morning  we  went  to  see  the  presentation  of  gifts  to  the 
Shareef.  His  camp,  which  was  on  an  artificially  raised 
platform,  comprised  four  huge  marquees  and  many 
smaller  tents.  Lines  of  troops  formed  a  passage  and 
kept  back  the  crowd.  Bands  paraded  up  and  down 
the  open  space  left  between.  The  various  grandees 
present  arrived  one  after  the  other  with  their  proper 
escorts,  and  were  received  by  the  Shareef  seated  on  a 
dais  at  the  far  end  of  the  largest  marquee.  They  in¬ 
cluded  envoys  from  Moslem  countries,  the  governor  of 
Mecca,  some  minor  Mohammedan  potentates  from  India 
and  elsewhere,  and  other  people  of  consequence.  When 
all  were  assembled  and  seated,  the  Turkish  Ambassador 
arrived  with  the  Sultan’s  present  carried  on  a  gold  dish.  I 
cannot  say  of  what  the  gift  consisted,  as  it  was  covered  with 
a  cloth,  but  I  was  told  that  a  few  thousand  in  cash  is  the 
form  it  generally  takes.  The  Shareef  came  to  the  edge  of  the 
platform  to  receive  this  visitor  and  escorted  him  within. 

As  soon  as  this  ceremony  was  over,  and  the  Turkish 
Ambassador  had  ridden  away,  the  principal  Meccans 
and  pilgrims  from  foreign  countries  wishing  to  salute  the 
Shareef  passed  in.  He  held  in  fact  a  sort  of  levee  to 
which  every  one  was  admitted  who  cared  to  go.  Masaudi 
went,  but  I  declined  to  do  so,  fearing  possible  questions 
about  myself  which  might  be  awkward. 

The  present  Shareef,  Seyyid  Hussein,  is  a  very  popular 
man.  He  had  then  comparatively  recently  assumed 
office,  having  succeeded  his  brother  therein,  who  was 
deposed  by  the  Turkish  Government.  From  what  I 
could  see  he  fully  deserves  the  estimation  in  which  he 
is  held.  While  quite  alive  to  the  dignity  of  his  position, 
he  endeavours  to  revive  the  old  traditions  of  the  Prophet 
and  the  earlier  Caliphs,  who  were  accessible  to  all  and 
sundry,  and  put  into  actual  practice  the  theory  of  equality 
and  fraternity  inculcated  by  the  Koran.  The  Shareef s 
who  preceded  Seyyid  Hussein  would  allow  no  one  to  sit 
down  in  their  presence,  and  were  apt  to  treat  their 
inferiors  as  so  much  dirt. 

We  were  sitting  in  our  tent  smoking  and  listening  to 
Masaudi’s  account  of  the  levee,  when  we  came  within  a 
little  of  complete  disaster.  The  wall  of  our  tent  was 
down,  as  usual  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  we  ourselves 


168  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


were  squatting  on  the  carpet.  I  heard  a  sudden  excla¬ 
mation  from  Masaudi,  and  saw  him  staring  fixed  and 
motionless  over  my  shoulder.  Looking  round,  I  saw  the 
cause  of  his  behaviour.  Standing  within  a  few  feet  of 
us,  and  looking  straight  into  our  tent,  were  three  of  the 
Mombasa  Swahilis  whom  we  had  encountered  at  Medina, 
together  with  Kepi  and  another  man  I  did  not  know. 
It  did  not  seem  possible  that  they  could  miss  seeing 
Masaudi,  and  if  they  did  it  was  certain  that  they  would 
come  into  the  tent  to  greet  him,  when  one  of  them  at  least 
was  almost  bound  to  recognize  me.  Escape  was  im¬ 
possible,  and  I  thought  we  were  done.  The  morning 
sun,  however,  was  shining  right  in  their  eyes :  they  saw 
nothing,  and  after  a  moment’s  pause  passed  on.  As 
they  turned  their  backs  both  Masaudi  and  I  ran  out  of 
the  tent  at  opposite  sides  and  mingled  with  the  crowd. 

I  had  known  of  the  arrival  of  these  people,  for  Masaudi 
had  ascertained  that  they  had  come  with  the  Syrian 
mahmal.  Here  in  Mina,  among  the  vast  crowd  of  pilgrims, 
the  chances  of  meeting  them  had  appeared  infinitesimal, 
and  I  had  relaxed  all  precautions  as  regards  being  seen 
about  with  Masaudi.  I  cannot  say  what  would  have 
happened  if  they  had  seen  me.  We  were  by  no  means 
at  the  end  of  our  resources,  and  I  have  no  doubt  we  should 
have  found  some  way  to  keep  them  quiet  ;  all  the  same 
we  had  very  good  cause  to  be  thankful  that  the  necessity 
for  doing  so  did  not  arise. 

Although  I  was  not  presented  to  the  Shareef,  I  got  an 
invitation  for  “  self  and  party  ”  to  join  his  following  at 
prayer.  This  is  extended  to  large  numbers  of  respectable 
pilgrims,  and  we  probably  owed  it  to  some  of  our  Meccan 
friends,  or  perhaps  to  the  hamelidaris. 

During  the  afternoon  we  received  visitors,  who  came 
to  wish  us  what  corresponds  to  a  “  Merry  Christmas,” 
and  to  congratulate  Haji  Ali  and  Haji  Masaudi  on  their 
successfully  accomplished  pilgrimage.  The  chief  topic 
of  conversation  is  the  colour  of  the  flag  flying  over  the 
quarantine  station.  A  red  flag  means  that  all  is  well ; 
but  if  it  changes  to  yellow  it  signifies  that  cholera  or 
plague  has  broken  out.  This  affects  all  alike,  for,  apart 
from  the  danger,  they  are  bound  to  suffer  from  vexatious 
quarantine  restriction  wherever  they  may  subsequently 


THE  PILGRIMAGE  169 

go.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Hag  is  “  clean,”  these 
restrictions  are  generally  much  relaxed. 

In  the  evening  we  walked  into  the  village  and  once 
more  stoned  the  “  devils.”  We  met  the  Shareef  and  his 
party  returning  from  that  ceremony.  All  were  now  most 
gorgeously  apparelled  ;  the  Shareef  and  the  other  Arabs 
in  gold-embroidered  robes,  the  Turks  in  their  uniforms, 
and  the  foreign  visitors  in  their  national  costumes. 

The  Bedou  camel-guards,  who  always  accompany 
the  Shareef,  are  a  very  fine-looking  body  of  men.  The 
camels  themselves  are  of  a  particular  breed  renowned 
for  its  speed  and  beauty,  and  as  different  in  appearance 
from  the  ordinary  camel  as  the  Derby  winner  from  a  dray- 
horse.  They  carry  the  mails  from  Mecca  to  Jiddah  in 
a  little  over  three  hours.  It  is  a  fine  sight  to  see  an  Arab 
spearman  mounted  on  his  camel,  when  both  are  fully 
equipped,  though  how  they  manage  to  stick  on  when 
going  at  full  speed  I  cannot  imagine. 

I  inquired  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  buy  one, 
and  was  told  it  might  be  done  with  some  trouble,  but  the 
price  for  a  young  camel  of  the  very  best  breed  might  be 
anything  up  to  £150.  A  really  first-class  riding-camel, 
however,  not  absolutely  thoroughbred,  might  be  bought 
for  about  £50. 

After  the  stone-throwing,  we  visited  the  mosque  of 
Mina,  which  is  not  particularly  interesting.  The  square 
was  full  of  poor  people  camping  there,  and  very  dirty  ; 
the  year  before  it  had  been  full  of  dead  and  dying,  and 
was  a  regular  hotbed  of  infection.  It  is  very  odd  that 
people  should  be  allowed  to  defile  the  place  in  the  dis¬ 
gusting  manner  they  do.  Many  have  been  the  complaints 
about  it  for  years  past,  but  nothing  is  done. 

In  the  evening  there  were  fireworks,  more  remarkable 
for  quantity  than  quality,  with  much  singing  and  band¬ 
playing,  which  continued  to  a  late  hour. 

The  following  was  the  day  of  the  “  rugoo,”  or  return 
to  Mecca  ;  but  none  might  leave  Mina  till  after  the  noon¬ 
tide  prayer.  The  hour  was  saluted  by  ninety  guns,  and 
immediately  there  was  a  rush  to  get  off.  The  narrow 
streets  of  Mina  were  soon  almost  impassable,  and  many 
were  injured  in  the  crush.  We  three  started  together 
on  our  donkeys,  but  soon  got  separated.  Abdul  Wahid 


170  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


had  a  narrow  escape,  his  donkey  being  knocked  oh  its 
legs,  and  he  himself  thrown  under  a  camel,  which  passed 
right  over  him,  fortunately  without  treading  on  him. 
We  had  once  more  to  throw  the  stones,  which  in  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  was  more  difficult  and  dangerous  than  ever. 
We  left  Mina  at  a  quarter  to  one,  but  did  not  reach  our 
house  till  nearly  five  o’clock.  Abdul  Wahid  was  the  first 
to  arrive  and  Masaudi  the  last,  owing  to  his  being  thrown 
and  losing  his  donkey  in  the  turmoil.  I  was  the  most 
fortunate,  for  I  came  through  scatheless.  Our  camels 
did  not  arrive  till  nightfall ;  but  in  view  of  the  state  of 
the  road,  we  were  lucky  to  get  them  when  we  did. 

The  reason  for  this  inconvenient  and  dangerous  rush 
is  to  be  found  in  an  old  rule  that  pilgrims  must  leave 
Mina  after  noonday  and  before  sundown.  This  was  all 
very  well  when  they  numbered  a  few  thousands  ;  but 
compliance  with  it  now  is  really  quite  absurd.  Every 
year  many  people  are  injured  to  no  purpose.  The  same 
applies  to  many  of  the  other  rites,  such  as  the  wasteful 
sacrifice  on  the  third  day.  If  the  money  so  uselessly 
expended  were  given  in  charity  or  spent  on  public 
works,  it  would  surely  be  better  ;  or  if  the  animals  must 
be  killed,  they  might  be  distributed  throughout  the  year, 
and  be  sufficient  to  feed  all  the  poor  in  Arabia.  The 
Prophet  obviously  never  intended  the  sacrifice  to  become 
the  public  danger  it  is  now  ;  more  likely  it  was  meant 
to  ensure  provision  for  all  on  the  day  of  the  festival. 

•  •  •  •  • 

The  return  to  Mecca  concluded  the  pilgrimage,  and  I 
shall  pass  over  the  remainder  of  the  time  we  spent  there 
in  a  few  words.  I  was  rather  disappointed  to  find  that 
we  could  not  leave,  as  we  had  intended,  on  the  following 
day.  The  objection  was  that  the  majority  of  the  troops 
holding  the  forts  and  blockhouses  on  the  road  to  Jiddah 
had  been  drafted  into  Mecca  for  the  week,  and  the  road, 
left  unguarded,  was  in  consequence  unsafe.  I  was  all 
for  taking  our  chance  and  riding  through,  but  strict 
orders  had  been  issued  that  no  one  was  to  leave  the  city 
until  formal  permission  was  granted  ;  and  I  was  assured 
we  should  be  stopped  and  sent  back  if  we  attempted  to 
do  so.  This  was  perfectly  right,  for  the  danger  is  by  no 
means  imaginary,  and  the  Government  are  justified  in 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


171 


taking  what  measures  they  think  fit  to  ensure  the  pil¬ 
grim’s  safety,  on  which  their  own  credit  depends  ;  but 
it  was  inconvenient  all  the  same.  Nothing  more  remained 
to  be  done  :  we  had  seen  all  there  was  to  see,  and  I  had 
good  reasons  for  disliking  the  delay.  To  make  matters 
worse,  the  governor  decided  that  the  absence  of  disease 
in  the  city  justified  him  in  granting  his  hard- worked  men 
a  couple  of  days’  rest  before  sending  them  back  to  their 
posts.  Had  there  been  cholera  the  authorities  would 
have  been  at  pains,  of  course,  to  get  rid  of  the  pilgrims  as 
quickly  as  possible  ;  but  this  year  there  was  no  particular 
necessity  to  do  so. 

The  end  of  it  was  that  we  had  to  wait  six  days  more, 
which  we  spent  not  unpleasantly  on  the  whole  ;  in  fact, 
but  for  my  anxiety  to  get  away,  I  should  have  enjoyed 
it.  We  had  by  now  made  many  friends,  and  I  no  longer 
felt  a  stranger  or  compelled  to  stand  on  ceremony  as  at 
first.  I  bought  one  or  two  things  as  mementoes  with 
my  fast-diminishing  stock  of  money,  among  them  a 
rather  nice  carpet  which  had  been  brought  from  Bagdad 
by  one  of  the  hamelidaris.  This  was  in  reality  a  present, 
but  the  sort  of  present  that  one  can  only  accept  on  con¬ 
dition  that  the  giver  takes  one  in  return,  which,  of  course, 
has  to  be  of  equal  or  superior  value. 

I  was  rather  horrified  to  find  what  it  had  all  cost.  What 
with  the  hire  of  donkeys,  camels,  tents,  and  servants, 
the  fee  I  had  to  pay  the  hamelidari  for  his  services — which 
were  very  well  worth  the  money — and  many  minor  ex¬ 
penses  incidental  to  the  pilgrimage,  the  bill  was  not  a 
short  one.  When  all  was  settled  up,  I  had  barely  £20 
left  with  which  to  get  my  party  back  to  Jiddah,  and  from 
there  to  our  various  destinations.  Masaudi  had  ex¬ 
pended  the  whole  of  his  small  savings  in  charitable 
donations,  and  Abdul  Wahid  had  got  rid  of  all  he  had 
brought  long  before  in  presents  intended  for  friends  in 
Germany,  so  that  I  could  look  for  no  help  from  them.  I 
could  perhaps  have  borrowed  the  money,  but  I  preferred 
to  take  my  chance  of  “raising  the  wind”  in  Jiddah. 
Kepi  bade  fair  to  add  another  unnecessary  expense  ;  but 
having  promised  to  take  him,  I  was  determined  to  do  so. 

The  only  notable  incident  that  occurred  during  this 
period  was  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  the  whole 


172  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


of  the  hamelidari  contingent  from  Bagdad.  I  could 
never  quite  make  out  what  the  trouble  was  about,  but 
it  was  something  to  do  with  their  having  infringed  the 
Government  regulations  with  regard  to  the  hire  of  camels 
from  the  Bedou.  They  were  all  released  before  we  left. 
A  considerable  number  of  pilgrims  were  bound  for  Medina, 
including  most  of  the  Persians,  who  had  wisely  deferred 
their  visit  to  that  place  till  after  the  Hag.  I  have  no 
doubt  our  friend  Hamza  made  a  good  thing  out  of  them 
when  they  got  there.  We,  having  already  “done” 
Medina,  were  frequently  asked  for  advice  about  lodgings, 
etc.,  and  had  much  pleasure  in  recommending  Iman’s 
establishment. 

At  last,  on  the  Friday  evening,  the  crier  announced 
that  travellers  to  Jiddah  might  leave  when  they  pleased. 
We  had  made  all  our  arrangements  beforehand,  so  were 
able  to  get  away  at  daybreak  the  following  morning. 
For  a  variety  of  reasons,  I  had  determined  to  ride  through 
with  Abdul  Wahid  on  donkeys,  leaving  Masaudi  to  follow 
with  Kepi  and  our  luggage  on  three  camels.  I  knew  that 
every  day  would  make  a  difference  as  regards  certain 
arrangements  I  had  made  to  meet  my  brother  in  Egypt, 
and  hoped  by  arriving  at  Jiddah  among  the  first  that  I 
should  be  able  to  have  all  in  readiness  to  embark  directly 
Masaudi  arrived. 

Kepi  had  been  warned  to  be  ready  for  some  days  past, 
and  Masaudi  brought  him  to  the  house  that  night.  It 
took  him  some  little  time  to  recognize  me,  but  he  did 
eventually,  when  we  were  together  in  Jiddah.  We  en¬ 
gaged  an  Arab  friend  of  Jaffa’s  who  was  in  poor  circum¬ 
stances  to  accompany  Masaudi,  for  which  we  agreed  to 
pay  him  one  dollar,  and  give  him  a  camel  to  ride.  This 
I  thought  advisable  because  he  knew  the  ropes,  which 
Masaudi  did  not,  and  indeed  it  was  fortunate  that  I  took 
this  precaution,  as  otherwise  they  might  have  been  de¬ 
layed  for  days.  The  camel-men,  as  we  knew  by  ex¬ 
perience,  are  a  set  of  thieves  of  the  worst  description, 
and  will  raise  all  sorts  of  difficulties  if  they  think  there 
is  the  smallest  profit  to  be  derived  from  so  doing. 

We  paid  our  farewell  visits  to  the  Haram  at  different 
times  that  night,  for  we  were  busy  packing  and  making 
pur  final  arrangements  for  leaving.  We  paid  off  Jaffa 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


173 


the  cook,  and  Ibrahim,  our  other  servant,  and  were  glad 
to  hear  that  they  had  found  work  with  a  party  returning 
to  Medina.  Both  had  turned  out  very  well,  and  the 
memory  of  Jaffa’s  cooking  makes  me  want  to  travel  in 
Persia.  I  had  supplemented  our  depleted  exchequer  by 
selling  my  rifle  and  the  various  articles  of  camp-equip¬ 
ment,  for  which  we  had  no  further  use. 

In  the  morning  we  waited  till  Masaudi’s  camels  were 
loaded  up  and  fairly  under  way,  then,  after  bidding  good¬ 
bye  to  Mohammed  Saeed  and  promising  to  stay  with 
him  next  time  we  came,  we  started  ourselves.  Our  two 
donkeys  were  remarkably  fine  animals,  clipped  in  a 
curious  fashion  peculiar  to  Mecca,  and  very  well  cared 
for.  The  Bedoui  in  charge  of  them  rode  a  somewhat 
smaller  beast,  and,  as  usual,  made  himself  as  much  of  a 
nuisance  as  possible  in  the  time  at  his  disposal.  I  had  to 
pay  £1  apiece  for  these  donkeys,  but  as  we  hoped  to  get 
through  in  one  day,  it  was  worth  the  money. 

The  first  trouble  arose  in  connection  with  the  passes 
we  had  to  obtain  for  the  donkeys,  and  in  consequence 
of  an  elaborate  and  carefully  thought  out  scheme  on  the 
part  of  our  donkey-boy  to  swindle  us  out  of  two  rupees. 
I  was  for  paying  and  getting  on,  but  Abdul  Wahid,  though 
not  cast  in  an  heroic  mould,  as  may  have  become  ap¬ 
parent  in  the  course  of  this  narrative,  would,  I  believe, 
cheerfully  suffer  martyrdom  rather  than  be  done  out  of 
a  single  “  nuhass.”  We  argued  and  finally  appealed  to 
the  sheikh,  who  sent  us  on  to  the  Mudir,  who  was  not  in, 
and  so  on.  Altogether  we  lost  about  an  hour. 

Getting  started  once  more,  we  rode  up  the  long,  straight 
street  by  which  we  had  entered  the  town,  passed  the  guard, 
who  inspected  our  papers,  and  found  ourselves  at  last  on 
the  high  road  heading  for  home. 

I  enjoyed  the  first  part  of  that  ride  :  the  morning  air  was 
sweet  and  cool,  our  donkeys  were  fresh,  and  the  pace  was 
good.  Moreover,  it  was  pleasant  to  reflect  that  this  was  the 
final  stage  of  an  enterprise  which  had  been  an  almost  un¬ 
qualified  success  ;  in  front  lay  rest  and  safety,  while 
the  dangers  and  hardships  were  all  behind.  As  I  recalled 
our  experiences  I  could  not  help  seeing  how  much  that 
success  was  due  to  sheer  good  luck,  and  how  thankful  I 
ought  to  be  that  nothing  had  gone  amiss. 


174  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Early  though  we  had  started  we  had  been  by  no  means 
the  first  to  leave  Mecca.  Many  of  the  pilgrims  had  left 
during  the  night,  and  also  the  Egyptian  mahmal,  which 
we  passed  near  Bahreia.  We  were  told  that  it  was  going 
by  sea  to  Yembu  and  thence  to  Medina.  In  ordinary 
years  it  journeys  from  Cairo  overland,  visiting  Medina 
before  the  Hag  ;  but  the  usual  route  had  been  altered  on 
this  occasion  owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country. 

About  midday  we  reached  Bahreia,  where  we  lunched 
and  rested  an  hour.  On  restarting  we  found  that  we 
had  passed  all  the  camels  that  had  set  out  before  us,  and 
were  now  riding  along  an  empty  road.  Catching  up 
with  a  party  of  eight  Jiddah  merchants,  also  on  donkeys, 
we  decided  to  keep  with  them  by  way  of  precaution 
against  possible  robbers.  Though  the  road  was  now 
garrisoned  in  the  usual  manner  it  was  still  unsafe  for 
small  parties,  especially  about  dusk.  We  continued, 
between  walking  and  cantering,  to  make  an  easy  six 
miles  an  hour,  till  just  before  sundown  we  emerged  from 
the  foot-hills  and  saw  before  us  across  the  plain  the  white 
minarets  of  Jiddah.  It  was  now  good  going,  and  we 
calculated  on  entering  the  town  before  it  was  quite  dark. 
Our  donkeys  seemed  to  recognize  their  goal,  and  started 
forward  at  a  smart  canter.  A  disappointment  however 
was  in  store  for  us  :  as  we  neared  one  of  the  fortified 
posts  a  soldier  ran  out  and,  planting  himself  in  the  road 
with  outstretched  arms,  brought  us  to  a  halt.  He 
told  us  that  strict  orders  had  been  issued  that  no  one 
was  to  travel  after  dark,  and  that  we  must  sleep  where 
we  were,  under  the  protection  of  the  blockhouse.  We 
naturally  protested  vigorously,  but  to  no  purpose  ;  the 
N.C.O.  in  charge  who  came  out  in  response  to  our  sum¬ 
mons  said  his  orders  were  explicit.  We  tried  bribery, 
but  it  was  no  good — for  once  in  a  way.  Finally  at  my 
suggestion  he  consented  to  let  us  go  forward  if  we  would 
sign  a  paper  saying  that  we  did  so  entirely  at  our  own 
risk  and  against  his  advice  ;  this  we  quickly  wrote  out 
and  signed,  but  before  it  was  ready  he  had  changed  his 
mind  again  and  absolutely  forbade  us  to  move  on  pain 
of  being  fired  on  by  his  men.  Getting  held  up  like  this 
did  not  so  very  much  matter  to  us,  but  it  was  very 
annoying  for  the  Jiddah  men,  who  had  doubtless  com- 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


175 


fortable  homes  and  good  dinners  waiting  for  them  an 
hour  away.  Some  of  us  were  in  favour  of  running  the 
blockade  :  we  did  not  believe  they  would  really  shoot 
or  that  they  would  hit  anything  if  they  did.  How¬ 
ever  we  were  out- voted,  and  in  the  end  had  to  make  the 
best  of  it  and  bivouac  where  we  were.  There  was  a 
small  shed  in  which  lived  an  old  Bedoui  woman  who 
sold  coffee  to  travellers,  and  kept  beside  a  few  provisions — 
some  eggs  and  a  little  very  stale  bread.  Abdul  Wahid, 
displaying  his  sound  business  instinct,  took  advantage  of 
our  altercation  with  the  N.C.O.  to  “corner”  the  whole 
supply,  with  the  result  that  he  and  I  fared  comparatively 
well.  Before  turning  in  we  had  a  conversation  with  one 
of  the  soldiers,  who  told  us  that  a  donkey  boy  leaving 
Jiddah  that  morning  had  been  shot  dead  by  a  highway¬ 
man  close  to  this  fort.  The  robbers’  usual  method  is  to 
“  snipe  ”  the  travellers  from  a  range  of  two  hundred  or 
three  hundred  yards,  and  when  they  make  a  hit  gallop 
in  and  plunder  their  victim,  taking  their  chance  of  being 
observed  and  fired  on  by  any  blockhouses  within  range. 
It  would  be  a  great  improvement  if  double  the  number 
of  these  blockhouses  were  constructed,  and  as  they  might 
well  be  of  smaller  size  no  great  extravagance  would  be 
involved.  The  posts  at  present  are  too  far  apart,  and 
consequently  do  not  serve  their  purpose  so  efficiently  as 
they  might  do.  This  soldier’s  description  of  the  life  they 
led  in  these  small  garrisons  reminded  me  of  South  Africa. 

After  spending  a  cold  and  uncomfortable  night  we 
started  as  soon  as  it  got  light  and  entered  Jiddah  before 
sunrise.  We  went  first  to  our  former  lodgings,  and  found 
that  the  landlord  had  gone  to  Mecca,  but  had  left  a 
message  that  we  could  have  the  rooms  if  we  wanted  them. 
We  put  our  things  there  in  the  cleanest  place  we  could 
find,  for  since  the  owner  had  left  a  fortnight  before,  the 
rooms  apparently  had  been  neither  swept  nor  garnished. 
Dust  accumulates  quickly  in  Jiddah,  and  so  do  other 
things,  as  I  was  shortly  to  discover.  A  feeling  of  dis¬ 
comfort  in  that  region  caused  me  to  examine  my  legs 
and  ankles — to  find  a  crawling  mass  of  fleas  ascending 
in  a  phalanx  !  I  took  to  flight  promptly  and,  seeking 
the  nearest  chemist,  bought  a  large  quantity  of  the  local 
version  of  Keating’s  :  but  all  the  insecticides  known  to 


176  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


science  would  not  have  saved  me  from  being  badly 
bitten.  Abdul  Wahid,  having  retrieved  our  things, 
joined  me,  and  we  breakfasted  with  our  old  friend  the 
Christian  restaurant-keeper,  and  then  made  a  round  to 
find  fresh  accommodation.  At  last  we  came  upon  a 
decently  clean  room  that  seemed  suitable,  though  we 
had  to  pay  an  inconveniently  long  price  for  it.  How¬ 
ever,  I  began  to  realize  that  the  money  I  had  left  would 
in  any  case  be  insufficient  to  get  us  home,  and  as  more 
must  therefore  be  raised  somehow,  I  ceased  to  bother 
about  further  economies. 

It  was  not  however  till  we  began  to  go  into  the  question 
of  passages  that  we  realized  how  very  awkward  it  was 
going  to  be.  We  had  heard  in  Mecca  a  rumour  which 
had  seemed  to  us  incredible,  to  the  effect  that  no  pilgrims 
other  than  those  of  Egyptian  origin,  and  furnished  with 
Egyptian  passports,  would  be  allowed  to  enter  Egypt 
till  after  the  return  of  the  mahmal,  that  is  to  say,  for 
about  another  two  months.  To  our  consternation  this 
turned  out  to  be  perfectly  true.  The  steamship  agents 
declined  to  sell  us  tickets  to  any  Egyptian  port,  or,  more 
politely,  warned  us  that  we  should  be  foolish  to  buy 
them  as  we  were  certain  to  be  sent  back  if  we  attempted 
to  land  there.  We  consulted  an  old  Turkish  officer 
sitting  outside  a  cafe,  explaining  that  we  had  urgent 
business  in  Egypt,  and  asking  his  advice  as  to  how  we 
were  to  get  there.  He  said  he  only  knew  of  two  ways  : 
one  was  to  buy  passports  from  some  poor  Egyptian 
pilgrims,  which  could  easily  be  done,  and  travel  dis¬ 
guised  as  Egyptians ;  but  he  shook  his  head  over  our 
chances  of  imposing  on  the  landing  authorities.  We 
neither  of  us  looked  the  least  like  natives  of  that  country. 
The  other  way,  he  said,  was  to  go  to  Beyrout,  change 
our  passports  for  others  without  the  Mecca  endorsement, 
and  from  there  make  our  way  to  Port  Said.  He  said 
the  authorities  would  readily  connive  at  this,  as  they 
were  disgusted  with  these  restrictions.  The  objection 
was  that  we  should  be  in  quarantine  for  ten  days  at  Tor, 
four  at  Beyrout,  and  four  more  at  Port  Said,  which  was 
an  appalling  prospect — and  would  beside  ruin  a  shooting 
trip  in  the  Sudan  that  I  had  planned  with  my  brother. 

Masaudi  did  not  turn  up,  and  I  began  to  get  rather 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


177 


anxious  about  him.  We  were  also  very  uncomfortable 
without  the  luggage,  being  badly  in  need  of  a  wash  and 
change.  We  spent  the  time  smoking  in  the  cafes  and 
trying  to  devise  some  practicable  scheme  for  getting 
into  Egypt.  One  that  we  considered,  was  to  go  down 
to  Aden,  and  there  change  into  a  P.  and  0.  or  other  home¬ 
ward-bound  ship.  The  objections  to  this  were  quarantine 
and  lack  of  funds.  I  then  thought  of  going  straight  across 
to  Suakim,  but  it  turped  out  that  there  was  no  boat  for 
a  fortnight,  and  that  we  should  be  at  least  ten  days  more 
in  quarantine  there,  added  to  which  the  Sudan  contingent 
of  pilgrims,  mostly  African  negroes,  are  not  the  most 
desirable  travelling  companions.  Had  I  been  possessed 
of  sufficient  ready  money  I  might  have  chartered  a  dhow 
and  sailed  over,  concocting  on  the  way  some  fairy  tale 
for  the  benefit  of  the  port  authorities  on  the  other  side. 

Masaudi  arrived  on  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day. 
The  machinations  of  the  camel-men,  who  had  started 
their  little  games  the  moment  our  backs  were  turned, 
had  been  the  cause  of  many  hours’  delay.  They  had 
demanded  the  whole  of  the  fare  before  leaving  Mecca, 
and  had  actually  offloaded  the  camels  on  compliance 
being  refused.  Masaudi  was  in  favour  of  teaching  them 
manners  with  his  sword,  but  the  Arab  we  had  engaged 
showed  very  good  sense,  himself  assisted  in  undoing  the 
ropes  and,  declining  to  take  the  camels  at  all,  went  off 
to  the  Mudir,  who  arrested  the  delinquents  and  made 
them  return  the  money  that  they  had  already  received, 
and  (I  hope)  ordered  them  twenty-five  of  the  best  as  a 
memento  of  the  incident. 

It  thus  became  necessary  to  find  a  new  lot  and  make 
a  fresh  agreement — all  of  which  took  time.  But  in  any 
case  I  was  far  too  relieved  to  see  him  safe  to  have  grumbled 
at  the  delay  even  had  it  been  his  fault. 

The  story  of  our  journey  may  well  close  at  this  point. 
We  separated  at  Jiddah.  Masaudi  and  Kepi  went  to 
Mombasa,  Abdul  Wahid  to  Persia,  and  I  myself  to 
Egypt.  The  difficulty  about  the  quarantine  was  success¬ 
fully  overcome  in  the  end.  This  was  in  no  way  attribut¬ 
able  to  my  own  ingenuity,  but  was  due  entirely  to  the 
kindness  of  a  fellow-countryman. 

It  may  occur  to  the  reader  who  has  done  me  the  honour 

12 


178  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


to  follow  me  thus  far  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  holy 
cities  and  the  others  we  associated  with  in  the  course  of 
these  four  months  must  have  been  of  singularly  un¬ 
observant  disposition,  or  that  I  myself  must  be  a  past 
master  in  the  art  of  deception.  Neither  however  is  the 
case  ;  my  success  in  imposing  on  those  we  met  is  to  be 
explained  by  their  ignorance  and  lack  of  interest  in  the 
outside  world,  even  in  that  part  of  it  which  professes 
Islam.  There  are  so  many  different  sects  in  Islam,  and 
its  adherents  are  found  in  so  many  different  countries, 
that  I  seriously  believe  that  if  some  one  invented  for 
himself  a  country  and  a  language  that  do  not  exist  at 
all,  and  journeyed  thus  to  Mecca,  no  one  there  would 
know  enough  geography  to  find  him  out.  Yet  withal 
they  are  quick  enough  in  their  way,  and  if  some  Mutowif 
would  take  the  trouble  to  write  a  book  on  ethnography 
in  its  relation  to  the  Islam  of  to-day,  and  classify  the 
different  races  that  come  to  Mecca — such  a  deception  as 
I  practised  would  become  impossible.  But  no  works  of 
reference  exist,  and  the  excellent  school-books  published 
by  the  Beyrout  press  are  generally  neglected  by  Moslem 
Arabs,  who  manifest  indifference,  and  even  contempt, 
for  knowledge  in  every  form  except  that  of  languages. 
Their  idea  of  a  learned  man  is  an  able  linguist.  This 
was  not  the  intention  of  the  Prophet,  who  said,  “  Seek 
knowledge,  if  you  have  to  go  to  China  for  it.” 

This  is  meant  only  as  a  generalization,  and  so  is  the 
bad  character  I  have  given  them  in  other  respects.  There 
are  many  exceptions.  Well-informed  and  energetic  men 
are  to  be  found  in  Mecca,  and  so  likewise  are  men 
who  live  upright  and  sober  lives.  Not  every  Meccan  is 
hopelessly  depraved,  nor  will  every  Mutowif  take  “  une 
vessie  pour  une  lanterned 

We  did,  as  I  have  related,  occasionally  excite  some 
suspicion.  Our  two  servants,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
both  were  Persians  and  knew  little  Arabic,  must  have 
had  their  doubts.  Had  these  suspicions  ever  become 
anything  more  definite  we  should  have  heard  about  it 
fast  enough  in  the  shape,  probably,  of  an  extravagant 
demand  for  “hush  money.”  It  must  be  remembered 
that  very  great  credit  would  accrue  to  any  one  who 
might  discover  and  denounce  an  “  unbeliever.” 


THE  PILGRIMAGE 


179 


I  would  advise  any  one  who  wants  to  see  Mecca  to  go 
at  the  pilgrimage  season  because  it  is  easier  to  get  there 
for  one  thing,  and  much  more  interesting  for  another. 
I  do  not  think  the  measures  I  adopted  as  regards  language, 
disguise,  and  so  forth  can  be  much  improved  upon.  In 
any  case  I  strongly  recommend  the  traveller  to  enter 
the  country  in  disguise  and  not  wait  to  assume  it  till 
after  his  arrival  at  the  port.  Neglect  of  this  obvious 
precaution  has  led  to  several  would-be  pilgrims  being 
found  out  at  Jiddah  and  ignominiously  sent  back.  While 
in  Mecca  the  traveller  must  be  very  careful  to  avoid  the 
society  of  pilgrims  from  the  country  to  which  he  is 
supposed  to  belong,  and  he  should  not  on  any  account 
allow  his  Mutowif  to  come  to  his  house  ;  indeed  it  is 
better  if  possible  not  to  employ  the  same  one  twice. 
The  less  he  has  to  do  with  them  in  any  way  the  better — 
they  are  too  sharp. 

With  due  observance  of  these  precautions,  a  passable 
knowledge  of  Arabic  and  Moslem  ceremonial,  and  proper 
vigilance,  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  may  be  made  in 
disguise  without  running  any  risk  worth  mentioning. 

Medina  is  much  the  more  dangerous  place  of  the  two, 
and  no  traveller  should  adventure  himself  there  who  is 
not  very  thoroughly  at  home  in  his  Oriental  character. 
From  what  I  have  since  heard  I  am  disposed  to  attribute 
our  escape  to  a  series  of  happy  chances  rather  than  to 
good  management  on  my  own  part. 

Finally  as  to  the  law  on  the  subject.  The  Ottoman 
Government  claims  the  right  to  exclude  foreign  travellers 
from  the  Hedjaz,  and  to  expel  them  if  found  there,  while 
disclaiming  responsibility  for  anything  that  may  happen 
in  consequence  of  their  being  there.  This  position  is 
accepted  in  practice  by  the  other  Powers,  whose  repre¬ 
sentatives  however  are  not  supposed  to  “give  away” 
any  one  making  the  journey  in  secret  of  whom  they  may 
come  to  have  knowledge.  There  is  nothing  illegal  in 
going  there — it  is  merely  contrary  to  regulation.  Of 
course  it  does  to  some  extent  involve  defying  the 
“  wishes  and  express  injunctions  ”  of  the  authorities, 
which  as  we  shall  see  later  is  regarded  in  some  quarters 
as  a  very  terrible  crime. 


PART  II 


CHAPTER  X 

YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN 

The  hour  was  late  and  the  smoking  room  almost  de¬ 
serted  when  the  conversation  about  to  be  reported  took 
place.  My  companion  the  Pasha  was  a  tall,  heavy  man, 
on  whose  sunburned  and  lined  countenance  a  long  life 
in  the  open  air  and  many  hard-fought  campaigns  in 
tropical  countries  had  left  their  traces.  He  had  been  a 
field  marshal  once,  but  that  was  in  the  days  of  Abdul 
Hamid,  when,  as  some  one  said  after  the  American  civil 
war,  “you  could  not  spit  out  of  window  without  hitting 
a  major-general.”  It  was  to  this  latter  rank  that  the 
reshuffle  which  followed  hard  on  the  constitution  had 
reduced  him.  When  in  uniform  the  breast  of  his  tunic, 
broad  as  it  is,  can  scarce  find  place  for  all  the  decorations 
he  has  won  ;  and  the  scars  of  several  bullet-wounds  and 
a  couple  of  sword-cuts  can  testify  that  they  are  not 
unearned.  He  had  listened  to  my  rather  long  recital 
with  polite  and  I  had  thought  genuine  interest. 

“  Yes,”  he  said,  “  I  heard  a  lot  about  it  at  the  time. 
I’m  sorry  you  did  not  get  away.  It  would  have  been  a 
sell  for  that  animal.” 

“  Yes,”  I  replied,  “  it  would  indeed  ;  and  more,  I 
should  have  been  able  probably  to  accomplish  something 
of  real  use.  As  it  is  time,  money,  trouble — all  wasted.” 

The  Pasha  regarded  me  with  some  curiosity. 

“  Do  not  think,”  he  continued  after  a  pause,  “  that  I 
blame  you.  On  the  contrary  :  I  am  a  patriot  myself, 
and  I  admire  a  man  who  works  for  his  country.  To  be 
a  spy  requires  courage  and  resource.  I  admire  you,  and 
think  that  you  deserve  the  highest  honours  England  can 
award  you  ;  but  I  daresay,”  he  continued  with  a  grin, 
“  you  are  not  doing  so  badly  out  of  it,  eh  ?  ” 

180 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  181 


I  tried  to  assume  an  expression  indicative  of  my 
wounded  feelings  as  I  replied : 

“  I  fear  your  Excellency  has  misunderstood  me,  or 
perhaps  I  have  expressed  myself  badly.  I  was  making 
or  endeavouring  to  make,  if  you  prefer  it,  a  journey  for 
purely  scientific  purposes.  I  wanted,  as  I  have  just  told 
you,  to  explore  certain  parts  of  Arabia  which  are  at  present 
unknown,  and  my  expedition  had  no  connection  whatever 
with  the  British  Government  or  any  one  else  except 
myself  and,  in  a  sort  of  way,  the  Geographical  Society.” 

“  I  see  ;  and  what  was  the  Geographical  Society  going 
to  pay  you  for  it  ?  ” 

“  Part  of  the  expenses,  possibly,  had  I  been  successful 
— nothing  more.” 

“My  dear  boy,”  said  the  Pasha,  “you  can  keep  all 
that  sort  of  stuff  for  Mohammed  Ali,  and  have  the  great 
kindness  not  to  consider  me  a  perfect  fool.  Have  I 
lived  more  than  half  a  century  for  nothing  ?  Do  you 
expect  me  to  believe  that  you  risk  your  life  and  spend 
your  time  in  these  beastly  countries  for  nothing  ?  You 
and  your  Geographical  Society !  Fichtre !  Besides,” 
he  went  on,  “  I  know  more  than  you  think.  I  can  show 
you  some  correspondence  about  yourself  that  may 
surprise  you.” 

“Indeed,”  I  said,  “and  what  may  it  be  about — this 
sacred  correspondence  ?  ” 

“  About  you,  and  your  doings  up  in  Sanaa.  We 
know,  for  instance,  that  you  had  £20,000  to  distribute 
among  the  rebels.” 

“Heavens!”  I  exclaimed,  “do  you  suppose  that  if 
I  had  £20,000  I  should  be  fool  enough  to  give  it  away 
to  those  swine  ?  ” 

“Not  all  of  it,  perhaps,”  chuckled  His  Excellency, 
leaning  across  the  table  to  dig  me  in  the  ribs  and  taking 
the  opportunity  to  help  himself  to  four  fingers  of  my 
whisky  ;  to  which,  by  way  of  homage  to  the  conventions, 
he  proceeded  to  add  a  little  water. 

This  was  not  what  I  had  meant  at  all. 

“  Look  here,”  I  said,  “  I  give  you  my  word  of  honour  ” 
— the  Pasha  smiled — “  very  well  then,  if  you  like,  I  swear 
on  my  hopes  for  the  hereafter,  by  the  right  of  the 
Prophet - 5  5 


182  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


“  Fiche-moi  la  paix /”  he  cried,  laughing  heartily, 
“  toi  et  ton  Prophete  !  ” 

“You  don’t  believe  in  the  Prophet  ?  ”  I  asked,  dis¬ 
concerted. 

“  No,  I  don’t,”  said  the  Pasha,  “  nor  do  you.  Le  vieux 
farceur  !  You  tell  me  all  these  things  and  expect  me  to 
believe  them  ?  You  should  know  better.  Of  course 
you  will  not  say  so — quite  right ;  but  I  know  that  you 
have  been  to  all  these  places,  Tripoli,  Hedjaz,  and  the 
rest,  to  collect  information  for  your  War  Department — 
what  else  ?  Six  of  your  officers  went  to  the  Imam  this 
time  :  you  were  in  Sanaa  and  the  other  five  with  the 
besiegers — what  ?  ” 

“That,”  I  had  interjected,  “is  obviously  untrue.” 

“  Why  ?  ” 

“  Because,”  I  riposted,  getting  home  on  him  for  once, 
“  if  there  had  been  they  would  have  taken  the  place 
within  the  first  week.” 

“That  may  be  so,”  responded  the  General,  “but  we 
are  not  such  fools  as  you  take  us  for.  What  do  I  care 
for  the  Yemen  or  the  Hedjaz  ?  Je  m’en  fous  !  Take 
them  all  if  you  like,  and  give  me  Paris.  But  don’t  tell 
me  you  work  for  nothing.  Your  War  Department - ” 

“  Can  go  to  perdition  so  far  as  I  am  concerned  ” — I  was 
beginning  to  get  heated.  “  Do  you  seriously  suppose  that 
if  we  wanted  information  about  these  countries  we  could 
not  get  it  in  a  dozen  better  and  cheaper  ways  ?  You 
may  believe  it  or  not,  as  you  like,  but  our  War  Depart¬ 
ment  takes  so  little  interest  in  the  whole  affair  that  they 
won’t  so  much  as  ask  me  what  happened  in  Sanaa.  Do 
you  really  believe  that  the  British  Government  spends 
these  huge  sums  of  money  to  interfere  in  your  miserable 
squabbles  with  the  Imam  and  the  rest  of  them  ?  Twenty 
thousand  pounds  ?  Why,  if  the  Porte  offered  to  sell  the 
whole  province  for  twenty  thousand  piastres  I  don’t 
believe  any  country  in  Europe  would  be  fool  enough  to 
buy  it.  And  if  England  did  want  to  help  the  Arabs 
against  you,  do  you  imagine  it  would  be  done  in  this  sort 
of  way  ?  When  we  want  to  send  spies  to  a  place  we 
don’t  give  official  assurances  about  them.  That  may 
have  been  Abdul  Hamid’s  way  of  doing  things,  but  it 
isn’t  ours.  You  talk  of  the  new  regime ,  of  civilization 


YOUNCx  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  183 


and  progress,  yet  yon  can’t  believe  that  any  one  can 
do  anything  from  disinterested  motives.  If  you  or 
Mohammed  Ali  or  any  one  else  would  think  over  the 
matter  for  two  minutes  you  would  see  the  absurdity  of 
your  idea.” 

“  I  know  what  I  know,”  replied  the  General  imper¬ 
turbably  :  “  every  one  who  does  anything  expects  to  get 
something.  Your  country  wants  more  land,  we  all 
know  that,  and  will  take  ours  if  it  can.  Good.  All 
Governments  are  bad,*  and  one  pack  of  thieves  is  no 
worse  than  another.  Islam  or  Christianity — what  does 
it  matter  ?  Fairy  tales — as  you  know  as  well  as  I  do. 
The  new  regime — bah  !  la  bonne  blague  !  Abdul  Hamid 
was  a  rogue  and  made  what  he  could  for  himself  when 
he  had  the  chance  !  Then  some  other  bigger  rogues  came 
and  took  his  place.  The  Prophet  was  a  rogue,  the  Sultan 
is  a  rogue,  and  so  is  Mohammed  Ali.  They  all  do  the 
best  they  can  for  themselves.  I  am  a  rogue  myself,” 
concluded  his  Excellency  as  he  again  refilled  his  glass, 
“  and  so  are  you.” 

Not  every  Turk  is  so  outspoken  as  my  friend  the 
Pasha,  and  comparatively  few,  let  us  hope,  share  his  views 
on  certain  points.  Yet  of  the  class  to  which  he  belongs 
such  a  frame  of  mind  is  typical.  There  are  some  aspects 
of  English  character  which  are  almost  inconceivable  to 
them,  in  the  same  way  that  there  are  some  sides  of  Turkish 
character  which  are  incomprehensible  to  ourselves. 
The  words  Turk  and  Turkish  are  used  here  in  their 
political  rather  than  their  ethnological  sense,  for  what  is 
true  of  the  Turk  in  this  respect  is  true  of  other  Orientals, 
the  difference  being  only  in  degree.  When  in  the  course 
of  our  dealings  with  them  collectively  as  a  nation,  or 
individually  in  private  affairs,  these  differences  become 
prominent,  friction  occurs  and  bears  fruit  in  wars  or 
“incidents  ”  which  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  are  due  less 
to  any  conflict  of  interests  than  merely  to  the  inability 
of  either  side  to  appreciate  the  other  point  of  view. 
This  fundamental  divergence  of  thought  carries  the 
disputants  farther  and  farther  apart,  and  as  negotiations 
proceed  the  gulf  of  misunderstanding  widens  in  direct 
ratio  with  the  amount  of  discussion  that  takes  place. 

*  The  Pasha  is  an  Albanian. 


184  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


This  occurs  not  merely  from  lack  of  sympathy  with  the 
other  side  of  the  case,  but  from  failure  to  understand 
what  that  other  side  is  ;  and  when  the  quarrel  is  eventu¬ 
ally  adjusted  both  parties  are  apt  to  feel  equally  ag¬ 
grieved  without  very  clearly  understanding  what  the 
dispute  has  been  about. 

When  Great  Britain  brings  pressure  to  bear  on  Belgium 
to  put  an  end  to  administrative  abuses  in  the  Congo,  her 
action  may  give  rise  to  anger  and  resentment  in  Brussels, 
but  her  motives  for  it  are  not  misunderstood.  The 
existence  of  the  abuses  may  be  denied,  or  they  may  be 
declared  to  be  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the  state 
of  the  country,  or  the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  or 
any  other  arguments  may  be  used  ;  but  the  course  of 
the  discussion  and  the  reasons  for  it  are  as  intelligible 
to  the  Belgian  as  they  are  to  the  English  public. 

But  when  we  inform  Persia  that  if  she  really  cannot 
establish  a  state  of  reasonable  security  on  certain  trade 
routes  within  a  given  time  we  shall  have  to  do  some¬ 
thing  in  the  matter  ourselves,  we  find  to  our  astonishment 
that  an  outburst  of  hostile  feeling  in  Constantinople  is 
the  immediate  result.  “  Why  ?  ”  asks  the  well-informed 
man  in  the  street.  “  What  has  Persia  to  do  with  Turkey  1 
Do  not  the  Persians  and  Turks  hate  each  other  because 
of  their  religious  differences,  and  are  they  not  always 
quarrelling  ?  Besides,”  he  may  well  continue,  “  surely 
every  one  must  prefer  good  government  to  anarchy,  and 
safety  to  insecurity  !  We  have  promised  to  respect  the 
integrity  of  Persia  and  have  said  that  our  one  desire  is 
to  see  her  strong  and  prosperous.  Our  intention  is  to 
help  these  people  and  they  ought  to  like  it.” 

They  ought  to  but  they  don’t.  We  cannot  see  why 
our  determination  to  protect  British  traders  in  one 
country  should  rouse  hostility  in  another  ;  we  cannot  see 
why  our  well-meant  efforts  to  effect  improvements  in 
the  state  of  Persia  or  secure  the  lives  of  Armenians  in 
Anatolia  should  rouse  anger  and  hatred  not  only  in  the 
countries  concerned,  but  throughout  the  East.  The 
state  of  Egypt  as  it  is  now,  compared  to  what  it  was 
before  the  occupation,  ought,  we  think,  to  be  an  example 
sufficiently  striking  to  convert  any  sceptic  as  to  the 
beneficent  results  of  British  administrative  methods. 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  185 


When  we  fail  to  understand  these  things  it  is  because 
we  persist  in  considering  that,  cceteris  paribus,  every 
question  appears  to  an  Oriental  in  the  same  light  as 
it  does  to  a  European  mind.  We  use  in  speaking  of 
Eastern  matters  words  and  expressions — “  patriotism,” 
for  instance,  and  “  slavery  ” — which  do  not  occur  in  any 
Eastern  tongue.  The  expressions  for  them  that  we  find 
in  dictionaries  are  merely  the  nearest  equivalents  in  the 
language  for  the  idea  conveyed  by  the  English  words. 
An  axiom  is  defined  as  the  statement  of  a  fact  not  sus¬ 
ceptible  of  proof  but  so  obvious  in  itself  that  it  does 
not  need  to  be  proved.  Moral  as  well  as  physical  sciences 
rest  on  axioms.  The  Western  school  of  statecraft  rests 
on  the  axiom  that  the  primary  division  of  mankind  is 
determined  by  racial  and  geographical  considerations. 
The  peoples  of  the  earth  group  themselves  into  nations 
which  for  purposes  of  government  form  states.  The 
State  in  dealing  with  its  neighbours  acts  as  a  corporate 
body  and  in  accordance  with  the  code  of  morality  in¬ 
cumbent  on  each  separate  individual  belonging  to  it. 
Patriotism,  that  is  the  allegiance  and  devotion  of  the 
individual  to  the  State,  is  accounted  the  highest  virtue. 

In  the  Near  East  however  these  ideas  are  not  accepted 
as  axiomatic  ;  quite  the  reverse.  There  the  inhabitants 
of  the  world  are  classified  according  to  their  religious 
beliefs.  The  unit  is  no  longer  the  nation  but  the  “  mil- 
lah.”  The  Oriental,  be  he  Moslem,  Christian,  or  Jew, 
regards  his  co-religionists  as  his  compatriots  irrespective 
of  racial  or  territorial  considerations.  The  Ottoman 
Empire,  in  the  view  of  an  Eastern  Christian,  is  merely  an 
expression  meaning  those  countries  in  which  the  Moslem 
“  millah  ”  at  the  present  time  dominates  and  governs 
the  others.  To  the  Moslem  Turk,  Greeks,  Frenchmen, 
Germans,  and  Armenians  all  fall  in  the  same  category. 
They  differ,  he  sees,  in  many  ways,  but  all  are  equally 
Christians  and  to  him  equally  obnoxious.  When  Ger¬ 
many  comes  near  war  with  France,  “  Good,”  says  the 
Turk,  “  the  Christians  are  quarrelling  among  themselves.” 
When  Russia  invades  Persia,  “  Here,”  says  he,  “  is 
another  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Christians  to  injure 
Islam” 

Each  millah  believes  that  it  will  eventually  prevail 


186  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


over  the  others.  Hostility  among  them  is  regarded  as 
perfectly  natural  and  inevitable. 

This  seems  to  us  a  strange  and  perverted  way  of 
looking  at  things  :  the  idea  of  ignoring  all  racial  differ¬ 
ences  in  order  to  consider  mankind  as  divided  up  into 
so  many  groups  held  together  by  nothing  but  their 
religious  opinions  seems  to  us  unreasonable  to  the  point 
of  being  ridiculous.  Yet  throughout  the  Turkish  Empire 
this  theorem  is  to-day  regarded  by  the  mass  of  the 
people  as  something  so  excessively  obvious  as  to  be 
beyond  discussion. 

When  the  spread  of  education  and  contact  with 
Europeans  had  converted  a  certain  body  of  opinion 
among  the  upper  classes  in  Turkey  to  the  Western  view, 
an  agitation  began  which  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  constitutional  Turkey.  It  must  not  however  be 
imagined  that  the  success  of  the  revolution  was  due  to 
the  sudden  appearance  of  a  genuine  spirit  of  nationalism. 
The  doctrine  of  the  “fatherland”  as  propounded  by 
the  Young  Turk  orator  is  seldom  understood  by  his 
audience,  and  when  it  is  comprehended  rarely  finds 
acceptance.  It  is  too  revolutionary.  The  impression 
produced  on  most  of  his  listeners  was  somewhat  as  follows  : 
Abdul  Hamid’s  government  was  full  of  abuses,  and  it 
was  time  for  a  change.  People  who  had  been  to  Europe 
said  things  went  much  better  there,  which  was  chiefly 
due  to  things  called  parliaments.  In  order  to  make  the 
Sultan  really  strong  enough  to  fight  the  Europeans  it 
was  necessary  to  stop  squabbling  among  the  millahs  and 
for  all  to  pull  together.  Well,  this  was  by  no  means  a 
bad  idea  in  some  ways. 

It  appealed  to  many  of  them  on  other  and  more  personal 
grounds.  The  Jews  and  Christians  of  course  hailed  the 
idea  with  enthusiasm,  for  it  put  them  on  a  footing  of 
equality  with  the  Moslems.  Soldiers  and  Government 
servants  liked  the  prospect  of  regular  pay.  Some 
people  rather  fancied  themselves  as  deputies  in  the  new 
Parliament. 

So  the  great  experiment  was  tried,  and  the  triumph  of 
Young  Turkey  was  received  in  Europe,  in  England  es¬ 
pecially,  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  Here  at  last  was 
a  solution,  all  the  more  acceptable  for  being  so  un- 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  187 


expected,  of  that  very  troublesome  problem,  what  to  do 
with  Turkey  in  Europe.  No  more  talk  of  bag  and 
baggage — that  belonged  to  the  bad  old  days  now  happily 
gone  by.  There  might  be  some  difficulty  at  first  in 
reconstructing  the  colossal  fabric  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
on  these  very  novel  lines,  but  Europe  must  be  patient ; 
it  would  be  surmounted.  None  of  the  diseases  afflicting 
the  body  politic  could  long  survive  the  application  of 
that  panacea  for  all  evils,  a  real  Constitutional  Parliament. 
So  all  the  cage  doors  were  thrown  open  and  Turkey 
entered  on  the  New  Regime.  Abdul  Hamid,  it  will  be 
observed,  did  not  fail  to  appreciate  the  true  significance 
of  what  was  happening.  He  placed  his  dagger  on  the 
joint  of  the  constitutional  armour  with  the  practised 
skill  of  an  old  hand.  When  he  judged  that  enough 
nonsense  had  been  talked  about  liberty,  he  set  to  work 
to  inflame  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  Moslems.  The 
attack  was  premature  and  failed  :  it  shook  but  did  not 
shatter  the  constitution.  Abdul  Hamid  was  in  too 
much  of  a  hurry  for  once  :  of  course  he  is  getting  old. 

The  new  rulers,  it  must  be  confessed,  did  their  best  to 
justify  the  good  opinion  of  their  friends.  They  overcame 
difficulties  by  simply  ignoring  their  existence.  We  have 
not  yet  seen  our  way  to  creating  an  Imperial  Parliament, 
even  in  that  modified  form  which  would  embrace  the  great 
English-speaking  colonies  to  the  exclusion  of  our  subject 
races.  No  one  has  so  far  proposed  to  bring  Hindus  and 
Zulus  to  St.  Stephens.  Yet  this  is  what  the  amateur 
statesmen  of  Young  Turkey  were  called  upon  to  bring 
into  being — an  assembly  representative  of  a  great  number 
of  different  races  and  creeds  having  nothing  more  in 
common  than  the  allegiance  they  had  been  forced  to 
profess  to  the  power,  which  by  calling  them  together, 
was  ipso  facto  admitting  its  inability  to  rule  any  longer. 
They  attacked  this  problem  ;  and  if  they  did  not  succeed 
in  producing  an  Imperial  Parliament,  at  any  rate  they 
produced  something  that  looked  like  one. 

The  offspring  of  this  first  flirtation  of  Islam  with 
democracy  is  not  a  healthy  child,  but  it  is  still  alive, 
and,  stranger  still,  the  Ottoman  Empire  has  survived  the 
shock  of  parturition.  Constitutional  Turkey  may  out¬ 
grow  its  congenital  weaknesses  and  become  in  time  an 


188  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


efficient  instrument  for  the  good  government  of  the  Near 
East ;  it  deserves  at  any  rate  to  be  given  every  chance. 

Things  have  not  been  going  well  lately.  Old  abuses 
that  it  was  thought  had  been  swept  away  have  been 
showing  a  tendency  to  reappear  in  an  aggravated  form, 
and  people  in  Turkey  are  beginning  to  ask  themselves 
what  they  have  actually  gained,  while  the  philanthropists 
of  the  West  are  getting  a  little  impatient. 

The  warning  that  the  Balkan  Committee,  more  in 
sorrow  than  in  anger,  has  felt  compelled  to  issue  to  the 
Young  Turks  that  if  they  do  not  mend  their  ways  they 
run  a  grave  risk  of  forfeiting  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
the  English  people,  has,  it  must  be  confessed,  coming 
from  such  a  quarter  only  two  years  after  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  the  New  Era,  a  rather  ominous  sound.  The 
spirited  reply  of  the  prominent  Turkish  politician  who 
compared  their  conduct  favourably  in  some  respects  with 
that  of  Oliver  Cromwell  will,  if  it  serves  no  other  good 
purpose,  at  least  help  to  divert  the  leisure  hours  of  Abdul 
Hamid. 

The  failure  of  the  experiment  is  to  be  anticipated  in 
my  own  opinion  for  the  reasons  given  above.  The  move¬ 
ment  is  superficial,  not  profound.  Its  prospects  at  the 
outset  were  certainly  not  improved  by  the  extravagant 
and  foolish  adulations  of  the  European  press. 

The  fact  that  nationalist  propaganda  fold  very  limited 
success  in  other  Eastern  countries  is  due  to  the  same 
causes  :  namely,  that  to  be  effective  it  is  necessary,  not 
merely  to  instil  a  new  or  revive  an  old  idea,  but  to  found 
and  build  up  an  entirely  new  school  of  thought. 

On  the  way  to  Mecca  I  overheard  the  following  con¬ 
versation  between  Abdul  Wahid  and  our  camel-driver. 

“  Yes,”  the  latter  was  saying,  “  but  something  else  has 
come  to  the  country  this  year  besides  the  iron  road  ; 
something  they  call  the  Huriyah.” 

Here,  I  thought,  was  a  chance  for  Abdul  Wahid,  who 
loves  getting  “  on  the  stump,”  and  was  once  part 
editor  of  some  revolutionary  journal  run,  needless  to  say, 
from  Paris.  His  exposition  was  bound  to  be  a  little 
verbose.  What  word  has  so  sweet  a  sound  as  Freedom, 
what  fruits  are  so  rare  and  refreshing  as  those  of  the  tree  of 
liberty  ?  (The  reader  will  forgive  the  slight  confusion 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  189 

here  apparent.  My  recollection  is  imperfect,  and  these 
orators  all  go  on  in  much  the  same  way.) 

“And  so,”  perorated  Abdul  Wahid,  “oppression  and 
tyranny  are  done  with  ;  henceforward,  the  strong  and  the 
weak,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  Moslem  and  the  Jew,  are 
equal  and  alike  in  the  sight  of  the  law  ;  and  all  must 
work  together  for  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  the  common 
Fatherland  ”  (Watn). 

“  Their  what  ?  ”  asked  the  Bedoui. 

“  The  Watn,”  said  Abdul  Wahid  :  “  the  state  we  both 
belong  to.” 

“  I  come  from  Taif,”  said  the  camel-man,  after  trudging 
on  in  silence  for  some  little  time. 

“  And  I  from  Haleb,”  said  Abdul  Wahid  :  “  that  makes 
no  difference  ;  we  are  both  Osmanlis.  Whose  are  these 
soldiers  we  see  here  ?  ” 

“  They  are  the  Khaleefah’s  soldiers.” 

“  Yes,  but  what  is  their  Watn  ?  ” 

“  Some  are  Arabs  and  some  are  Turks  and  some  Arna- 
weet.” 

“  Yes,  no  doubt,”  exclaimed  Abdul  Wahid,  in  a  posi¬ 
tion  to  appreciate  the  beauty  of  Wordsworth’s  “  We  are 
seven  ”  ;  “but  what  is  the  difference  between  you  and 
so-and-so  ?  ” 

“  I  am  a  Moslem  and  he  is  a  Christian.” 

“  You  are  an  Osmanli  and  he  is  a  German.  Religion 
makes  no  difference  now.” 

“  Do  you  mean,”  said  the  Arab  suddenly,  eyeing  Abdul 
Wahid  with  some  suspicion,  “  that  the  Commander  of 
the  Faithful  thinks  a  Christian  as  good  as  a  Moslem  ?  ” 

“  Of  course  not.  God  forgive  us  !  (the  thought).” 

“  Then  I  do  not  yet  quite  understand,”  said  the  camel- 
man.  And  Abdul  Wahid  decided  that  perhaps,  after  all, 
it  was  better,  and  safer,  to  leave  him  in  the  dark. 

«  •  •  •  • 

When  a  traveller  from  a  foreign  country  lands  at  a 
Turkish  port,  he  is  asked  to  produce  his  passport.  He 
does  so  ;  and  if  of  an  observant  turn  of  mind,  may  note 
with  surprise  that  the  officer  scribbles  something  on  it 
and  hands  it  back  to  him  without  attempting  to  read  it. 
The  reason  is,  that  he  can’t  read  it,  and  the  document 
would  mean  nothing  to  him  if  he  could.  If  the  traveller 


190  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


says  he  is  a  tourist,  looks  like  one,  and  behaves  like  one, 
does  the  things  that  tourists  ought  to  do,  and  has  dealings 
with  Messrs.  T.  Cook  &  Son,  he  may  stay  long  and  travel 
far  in  Turkey  without  becoming  aware  of  anything  un¬ 
usual.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  shows  a  knowledge  of  the 
language,  does  not  want  to  buy  “  antika  ”  or  see  ruins, 
and  manifests  a  preference  for  the  society  of  the  natives 
over  that  of  his  brother  tourists,  then  he  will  very  soon 
realize  that  he  is  no  longer  in  Europe.  People,  he  will 
find,  who  were  very  friendly  at  first,  are  no  longer  at 
home  when  he  calls  ;  if  he  meets  them  in  the  street,  they 
are  full  of  politeness,  but  always  in  a  hurry.  Others  come 
forward,  however,  who  are  only  too  anxious  to  take  their 
place.  These  are  most  assiduous  in  their  attentions. 
They  will  hardly  let  the  traveller  out  of  their  sight.  They 
evince  a  somewhat  curious  readiness  to  discuss  any  subject 
of  interest  whatsoever — even  politics.  It  generally  turns 
out  that  this  latter  set  of  acquaintances  hold  Radical,  not 
to  say  revolutionary  views,  and  have  particularly  good 
reasons  for  disliking  the  present  Vali  or  Mutassarif,  or 
whoever  it  may  be. 

The  traveller  soon  finds  that  he  is  being  watched. 
Tradesmen  no  longer  want  his  custom,  and  can  hardly  be 
persuaded  to  send  to  his  house. 

If  he  gets  angry  and  goes  to  the  governor  to  complain, 
nothing  can  exceed  the  politeness  of  that  official.  He 
can  hardly  believe  that  the  police  can  have  been  so  stupid 
as  to  suspect  his  visitor,  who  must,  he  thinks,  be  the  victim 
of  a  mild  hallucination.  But  he  will  inquire. 

It  may  end  in  one  of  several  ways.  The  foreigner  may 
live  down  suspicion,  and  by  convincing  the  authorities 
that  he  is  only  a  scientist  or  artist  or  some  other  kind  of 
harmless  madman,  may  secure  freedom  from  molestation  ; 
he  may  be  entrapped  into  saying  or  doing  something 
that  gives  them  an  excuse  for  complaining  of  him  ;  or 
he  may  get  sick  of  it  and  go  home  of  his  own  accord. 
Otherwise  he  may  eat  something  that  disagrees  with  him. 

This  is  the  common  but  not,  of  course,  the  universal 
experience  of  travellers  who,  for  business  or  pleasure,  do 
things  in  Turkey  that  lie  outside  the  ordinary  scope  of 
“  tourism.”  Roughly  speaking,  the  more  out-of-the-way 
the  place  in  which  they  elect  to  do  these  things,  the 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  191 


greater  the  annoyance  they  are  likely  to  suffer  in  conse¬ 
quence.  In  cases  where  the  traveller  carries  unexcep¬ 
tionable  credentials  and  introductions  to  those  in  high 
places,  what  has  been  said  above  may  be  largely  dis¬ 
counted,  but  is  still  applicable. 

In  the  Turkish  Empire  all  foreigners  not  obviously 
“tourists  ”  are  objects  for  suspicion,  some  nationalities 
more  so  than  others,  depending  on  the  political  situation 
for  the  time  being.  Nor  is  it  only  foreigners  who  suffer 
from  the  evil  effects  of  this  unwholesome  atmosphere. 
The  Vali  suspects  that  the  Mutassarif  wants  his  post 
and  employs  spies  to  watch  his  proceedings  ;  the  Mutas¬ 
sarif  in  turn  thinks  it  as  well  to  find  out  as  much  as  possible 
about  the  Vali’s  private  life,  and  acts  accordingly.  Both 
are  carefully  watched  by  the  central  authorities.  There 
are  not  only  spies  in  Turkey,  but  spies  on  spies,  whole 
systems  and  organizations  of  them,  as  is  sufficiently  well 
known.  Many  suppose  that  the  practice  of  political  and 
domestic  espionage  ceased  with  the  advent  of  the  con¬ 
stitution.  This  idea  is  mistaken  ;  it  was  not  and  cannot 
be  put  a  stop  to,  because  it  is  merely  a  symptom  of  a  deep- 
seated  disease  in  the  Turkish  character — mistrust. 

Nothing,  to  the  Turk,  is  what  it  seems  to  be  ;  the 
obvious  he  neglects  for  the  complicated  explanation  ; 
the  straight  path  for  the  crooked.  Frankness  is  guile  and 
hypocrisy  combined  ;  or  merely  evidence  of  an  attempt 
to  bluff.  It  is  better  to  lie  at  first,  he  thinks,  than 
speak  the  truth,  even  though  there  be  nothing  to  conceal. 

These  traits,  and  the  evils  arising  from  them,  are  the 
outcome,  no  doubt,  of  centuries  of  misgovernment,  and 
would  tend  to  disappear  under  an  improved  regime. 
This  may  be  so,  but  they  have  not  disappeared  yet ;  and 
as  defects  in  the  body  politic  they  are  as  glaring  at  the 
present  day  as  ever  they  were  under  Abdul  Hamid. 

It  is  a  curious  thing  that,  in  spite  of  all  these  pre¬ 
cautions,  the  elaborate  passport  system,  the  secret  police, 
the  spies,  and  all  the  rest,  in  no  country  is  it  easier  to 
travel  secretly,  or  to  hatch  plots  if  so  disposed,  than  in 
Turkey.  The  very  excess  of  fear  and  multiplication  of 
safeguards  defeat  their  own  object  and  actually  facilitate 
the  work  of  the  conspirator.  The  whole  of  the  expensive 
organization  designed  to  protect  the  existing  order  of 


192  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


things,  controlled  as  it  is  by  those  interested  in  that 
continuance,  is  generally  employed  in  watching  or  mo¬ 
lesting  perfectly  harmless  individuals  while  the  real  plot 
matures  unsuspected. 

Men’s  actions,  as  we  all  know,  are  governed  less  by  the 
written  law  than  by  a  code  of  morality  based  on  prin¬ 
ciples  not  easy  to  explain,  for  it  considers  some  things 
allowable  that  the  law  condemns,  while  forbidding  others 
that  the  law  allows.  Smuggling,  for  instance,  most  of 
us  regard  as  a  permissible  crime,  if  I  may  be  allowed 
the  paradoxical  expression.  We  sympathize  with  our 
friends  when  they  are  caught  committing  it  ;  and  we  are 
not  the  least  ashamed  when  we  get  caught  doing  so 
ourselves. 

The  Turks  regard  the  giving  and  taking  of  bribes  in 
this  way.  Except  in  the  way  that  the  mere  acceptance 
of  a  bribe  usually  involves  a  pledge  of  secrecy,  the  Turk 
is  not  in  the  least  concerned  to  conceal  the  fact  that  he 
has  taken  one.  The  same  applies  to  other  forms  of  cor¬ 
ruption,  “  commissions  ”  on  appointments,  misappro¬ 
priation  of  funds  designed  for  public  works,  and  so  on, 
which  exist,  of  course,  in  Western  countries  also,  but  with 
this  essential  difference.  The  European  is  ashamed  of 
them,  and  the  Turk  is  not. 

Some  may  consider,  and  perhaps  rightly,  that  in  the 
matter  of  bribery  the  principal  obloquy  should  fall  on 
the  person  who  offers  the  bribe  rather  than  on  him  who 
takes  it.  Any  one  who  feels  inclined  to  blame  those  who, 
having  real  business  in  Turkey,  facilitate  it  in  this  manner, 
may  do  so  ;  but  let  him  first  travel  through  Europe 
without  giving  tips. 

A  certain  improvement  has  taken  place  recently. 
Since  the  constitution  has  been  established  corruption, 
though  it  has  continued  to  exist,  has  been  far  less  flagrant 
than  formerly.  Many  high-minded  Turks  have  for¬ 
sworn  the  practice  ;  increased  salaries,  regularly  paid, 
have  made  it  possible  for  them  to  do  so  without  hard¬ 
ship.  In  Abdul  Hamid’s  day  it  often  happened  that 
the  governor  of  a  province  was  expected  to  pay  his  own 
salary  by  selling  the  subordinate  offices. 

The  value  of  experiences  to  one’s  self  and  their  interest 
to  others  depends  on  a  proper  understanding  of  first 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  193 


causes.  It  is  in  this  belief  at  any  rate  that  I  have  vem 
tured  to  inflict  on  the  reader  the  foregoing  reflections, 
which  may  appear  to  him  out  of  place.  My  best  excuse 
for  making  them  is  to  be  found  among  the  newspaper 
files  of  July  1908  and  subsequently. 

I  will  conclude  with  a  few  words  regarding  the  present 
position  of  England  in  the  eyes  of  the  Turks.  It  would 
be  wrong  to  conclude  from  the  distracted  state  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  at  this  moment  that  it  is  on  the  point 
of  dissolution,  or  that  Turkish  friendship  is  not  worth 
having.  Influence  at  Constantinople  means  certain  solid 
material  advantages  for  the  country  that  wields  it.  For 
certain  special  reasons,  among  them  our  position  in 
Egypt  and  the  fact  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
Moslems  in  the  world  are  British  subjects,  a  good  under¬ 
standing  between  ourselves  and  the  Turks  is  very 
desirable. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1908  circumstances  had 
conspired  to  render  British  influence  predominant  in  a 
manner  never  before  known.  Germany,  the  friend  and 
supporter  of  Abdul  Hamid,  had  got  her  money  on  the 
wrong  horse.  Austria  was  regarded  as  a  potential  enemy. 
Italy  was  unpopular,  and  most  Turks  detest  Bussia  and 
the  Russians.  England  and  France  together  held  the 
field,  but  it  was  for  British  (rather  than  French)  ideals 
and  institutions  that  preference  was  shown.  If,  neglect¬ 
ing  all  prospects  of  deriving  material  advantage  from 
the  situation,  we  had  considered  solely  the  welfare  of  the 
Turks  themselves,  and  those  under  their  rule,  we  ought 
not  to  have  allowed  this  unique  opportunity  for  doing 
good  to  slip  away  from  us.  The  fact  that  it  has  been 
allowed  to  slip,  and  that  British  influence  at  Constanti¬ 
nople  has  been  supplanted  in  the  paramount  position  by 
that  of  another  Power,  is  generally  attributed  to  able 
diplomacy  on  the  one  side  and  ineptitude  on  the  other. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  other  causes  also  have  operated  in 
bringing  about  this  unfortunate  result,  causes  for  which 
no  individuals  can  fairly  be  held  responsible. 

The  “navy  scare”  of  1909  began  it.  Those  who 
write  articles  for  the  newspapers  to  prove  that  our  navy 
is  inadequate  and  undermanned  ;  that  it  is  badly  ad¬ 
ministered  and  unprepared  for  war  ;  and  that,  unless 

13 


194  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


quite  extraordinary  exertions  are  made,  it  will  shortly  be 
less  than  a  match  for  that  of  a  certain  neighbouring  Power, 
are  no  doubt  actuated  by  the  highest  possible  motives. 
The  same  must  be  said  of  those  who  in  Parliament  and 
public  places  call  the  nation’s  attention  to  these  supposed 
defects.  No  one  is  to  blame,  but  the  fact  remains,  and 
it  is  worth  remembering,  that  these  articles  and  speeches 
appear  in  the  vernacular  Eastern  press  and  lose 
nothing  in  the  process  of  translation.  When  one  half 
of  the  country  is  vehemently  protesting  that  the  other 
half  has  endangered  the  safety  of  the  whole,  is  the  Oriental 
to  be  blamed  for  believing  that  that  safety  is  really 
imperilled?  I  write  ‘  ‘  the  Oriental  ”  rather  than  “the 
foreigner”  because,  European  countries  having  free  presses 
of  their  own,  their  publics  can  estimate  better  the  right 
value  that  is  to  be  attached  to  what  is  said  in  the  course 
of  political  discussion.  To  cut  it  short,  we  have  allowed 
the  Turks  to  think  that  we  are  afraid  of  Germany,  and 
we  are  in  the  fair  way  to  lead  them  to  think  that  we  are 
afraid  of  Turkey.  The  Turks  are  a  fighting  race.  They 
can  sympathize  with  the  mailed  fist,  even  when  it  hits 
them,  much  more  easily  than  they  can  appreciate  talk  of 
universal  arbitration  or  the  limitation  of  armaments. 

A  certain  atmosphere  of  pessimism,  a  sort  of  political 
hypochondria,  which  originated  in  the  South  African  war 
has  oppressed  the  country  ever  since  that  event.  It 
finds  expression  variously  :  in  endless  whining  in  the 
press  about  the  state  of  the  navy  and  the  army,  the  fall 
in  Consols,  the  declining  birthrate,  the  weather,  the  lack 
of  good  plays  nowadays,  and  anything  else  that  happens 
to  crop  up  ;  in  an  absence  of  national  confidence  and 
self-restraint  in  time  of  danger,  the  outbreaks  of  hysterical 
excitement  that  prompt  the  suffragist  raids,  weakening 
of  respect  for  the  law,  industrial  strife,  and  many  other 
ways  that  will  occur  to  the  reader. 

We  Englishmen  attach  no  undue  importance  to  all 
this.  We  observe  it  and  are  distressed  accordingly : 
but  our  appetites  and  digestions  continue  their  functions 
unimpaired  by  the  most  gloomy  forebodings  of  the  New 
Year  leader-writer.  The  Turk,  however,  who  reads  these 
things  wonders  simply  why  we  don’t  begin  learning  German 
on  the  spot. 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  195 


Abdul  Hamid  and  his  satellites  had  a  most  wholesome 
awe  of  and  respect  for  the  majesty  of  what  is,  as  the  late 
Lord  Salisbury  once  told  him,  the  greatest  power  the 
world  has  ever  known.  However  fierce  the  hatred  with 
which  our  policy  inspired  him,  however  much  he  may 
have  disliked  individuals,  wherever  British  interests  or 
property  were  concerned  “  hands  off  ”  was  the  order  of 
his  day.  This  respect,  and  the  fear  that  inspired  it,  are 
by  no  means  extinct  :  but  they  are  diminishing. 

Englishmen  as  a  rule  are  little  disposed  to  criticize 
the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  except  in  their  larger 
issues.  The  subject  is  recognized  as  being  too  highly 
specialized  for  unskilled  comment,  and  they  are  content 
to  leave  it  to  those  charged  therewith,  confident  that 
whatever  else  may  happen  the  prestige  and  dignity  of 
the  nation  and  the  status  of  British  citizenship  will  not 
be  allowed  to  suffer. 

Our  relations  with  Turkey  during  the  past  few  years 
have  been  remarkably  free  from  “incidents  ”  disturbing 
to  their  harmony.  This  satisfactory  state  of  things  may 
be  due  to  a  more  skilful  conduct  of  affairs  than  heretofore, 
to  our  assumption  of  a  less  provocative  attitude,  to  the 
regeneration  of  the  Turkish  character,  or  simply  to  the 
fact  that  nothing  has  occurred.  Another  explanation  is 
conceivable.  It  takes,  as  we  know,  two  to  make  a 
quarrel.  When  a  person  conceives  himself  aggrieved  he 
may  either  fight,  or  induce  his  adversary  to  apologize, 
or  pocket  the  insult  and  walk  away. 

In  my  own  opinion  England  has  been  adopting  the 
last  attitude  for  some  time  past.  Whether  or  not 
the  incidents,  trivial  in  themselves,  about  to  be  related 
have  any  bearing  on  the  subject  the  reader  will  decide 
for  himself. 

•  •  •  •  • 

Reference  was  made  in  an  earlier  chapter  to  the  moun¬ 
tainous  country  in  the  south-west  corner  of  the  Arabian 
peninsula  which,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  we  agreed 
to  call  the  Yemen.  This  word  means  right  as  opposed 
to  left,  and  in  its  broadest  sense  geographically  might  be 
taken  to  include  all  that  country  to  the  right  of  an  ob¬ 
server  at  Jiddah  facing  the  Kibla  (i.e.  in  the  direction 
of  Mecca),  which  is  now  comprised  by  the  Ottoman 


196  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Sanjaks  of  Asir  and  Yemen,  and  the  British  protectorate 
of  Aden. 

These  highlands,  we  noticed,  are  peopled  by  a  race  of 
agriculturists  settled  in  towns  and  villages,  which,  owing 
partly  to  this  fact  and  partly  to  the  very  considerable 
foreign  element  introduced  at  various  times,  differs  much 
from  the  true  Arabian  type. 

The  history  of  these  regions  goes  back  to  the  highest 
antiquity.  That  they  were  the  seat  of  a  civilization  as 
old  as  or  older  than  that  of  Egypt  is  beyond  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  doubt.  The  earliest  written  inscriptions  of  which 
we  have  knowledge  date  from  about  4000  b.c.  They 
relate  to  the  foundation  of  the  Minnsean  dynasty,  which 
begins  the  historical  period.  The  Minn  (can  was  succeeded 
by  the  Sabsean  kingdom,  which  reached  the  height  of 
its  power  and  prosperity  in  the  time  of  Solomon.  The 
visit  of  the  “  Queen  of  Sheba  ”  to  that  monarch  is  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  Koran  as  well  as  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Arab  and  Hebrew  traditions  alike  bear  witness  to  the 
wealth  and  grandeur  of  the  Sabsean  monarchs,  and  that 
these  are  no  fabulous  tales  is  proved  by  the  dimensions 
of  the  great  dam  of  Marib,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
high  and  two  miles  in  length,  the  ruins  of  which  still 
exist  and  have  been  seen  by  at  least  three  European 
travellers  in  modern  times. 

The  Roman  expedition  to  Arabia  led  by  HClius  Gallius 
has  already  been  mentioned.  It  seems  to  have  reached 
Marib,  and  must  have  seen  the  dam,  though  the  fact  is  not 
specifically  mentioned  in  the  accounts  we  have  of  it. 

The  bursting  of  this  dam  about  a.d.  120  caused  the 
centre  of  south-west  Arabian  civilization  to  shift  from 
Marib  to  Sanaa.  The  decadent  Saboeans  of  that  day 
were  probably  unable  to  reconstruct  it,  and  so  were 
compelled  to  move  to  a  country  that  did  not  depend  on 
irrigation  works.  At  the  same  time,  from  what  we  know 
of  Marib,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  the  dam  could 
ever  have  been  very  full ;  and  its  existence,  like  that  of 
the  Aden  tanks,  goes  to  prove  that  the  climate  of  South 
Arabia  must  have  altered  very  greatly  in  historical  times. 

Judaism  was  introduced  into  South-west  Arabia  about 
the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era.  Christianity  itself 
soon  followed,  and  spread  rapidly  in  spite  of  persecution. 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  197 


In  revenge  for  cruelties  practised  on  the  Yemen 
Christians  the  King  of  Abyssinia  was  induced  to  invade 
the  country.  Sanaa  was  taken,  and  Christianity  es¬ 
tablished  as  the  State  religion  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth  century.  Thus  was  overthrown  the  Himyaritic 
dynasty  and  cult,  which  had  succeeded  the  Sabsean. 

It  was  during  their  occupation  of  the  Yemen  that  the 
Abyssinians  invaded  the  Hedjaz  with  the  object  of  seizing 
Mecca.  They  were  defeated  and  nearly  annihilated 
at  the  battle  of  “The  Elephant.”  This  event  has  a 
special  interest  for  us,  far  beyond  what  its  intrinsic 
importance  would  merit,  for  the  following  reason.  The 
105tli  chapter  of  the  Koran  runs  as  follows  :  “  Seest 
thou  not  how  thy  Lord  served  the  masters  of  the  ele¬ 
phant  ?  Did  He  not  cause  their  cunning  to  be  their  own 
loss,  and  sent  He  not  at  them  magical  birds  to  pelt  them 
with  stones  of  baked  clay  and  made  them  even  as  chewed 
grass  ?  ”  The  allusion  of  course  is  to  this  battle,  which 
was  the  first  and  probably  the  only  occasion  when 
elephants  have  been  brought  into  Arabia.  What  is 
remarkable  about  it  is  that  the  battle  was  fought  in  the 
year  of  Mohammed’s  birth,  so  that,  when  the  above 
chapter  was  revealed  to  him  at  Mecca,  there  must  have 
been  many  people  living  there  who  not  only  were  alive 
at  the  time  the  battle  was  fought,  but  had  actually  taken 
part  in  the  conflict.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  bitter  hostility 
Mohammed’s  preaching  aroused  in  Mecca,  no  one  seems 
to  have  challenged  the  statement  that  the  destruction 
of  the  Abyssinian  army  was  brought  about  by  these 
supernatural  means.  We  are  thus  forced  to  conclude, 
either  that  the  miracle  did  actually  take  place,  or,  in 
the  alternative,  that  the  Prophet  and  his  followers  were 
in  the  habit  of  admitting  a  figurative  interpretation 
of  certain  passages  in  the  Koran.  The  acceptance  of 
this  latter  conclusion  would  involve  prodigious  conse¬ 
quences,  and  it  is  to-day  utterly  repudiated  by  Moslem 
doctors. 

The  Persian  conquest  of  the  Yemen  which  took  place 
towards  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  introduced  yet 
another  civilization,  another  religious  cult,  and  a  further 
admixture  of  blood.  Thus,  at  the  time  of  the  Hegrah, 
Zoroastrianism,  Christianity,  and  Judaism,  in  order  of 


198  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


numerical  importance,  were  the  religions  of  a  people  who 
were  considerably  more  advanced  in  all  ways  than  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  peninsula. 

In  the  tenth  year  of  the  Hegrah  Ali  was  sent  to  the 
Yemen,  charged  with  a  special  mission  to  convert  its 
rulers  and  people  to  Islam,  and  in  this  he  succeeded.  Their 
character,  and  the  number  of  different  religious  ideas 
then  prevailing  throughout  the  country,  rendered  them 
particularly  easy  to  influence  and  bring  over  to  any  new 
creed  or  system  that  seemed  likely  to  be  an  improvement 
on  what  had  gone  before.  Scarcely  had  news  of  Mo¬ 
hammed’s  success  penetrated  to  the  Yemen,  when  a  rival 
prophet,  famous  in  Moslem  history  as  “  Museilima 
the  liar,”  appeared  on  the  scene.  For  a  time  his  success 
almost  rivalled  that  of  Mohammed,  whom  he  survived 
by  several  years,  to  be  finally  crushed  in  the  reign 
of  Abu  Bakar  by  the  Moslem  forces  under  Khalid. 
Museilima,  though  the  most  celebrated,  was  by  no 
means  the  only  imitator  of  Mohammed — even  in  the 
Yemen. 

During  the  period  of  Islamic  expansion  and  the  great 
days  of  the  Eastern  caliphate  the  Yemen  remained  a 
province  governed  by  officials  responsible  to  the  central 
authority,  and  shared  in  the  prosperity  and  progress  asso¬ 
ciated  with  that  brilliant  epoch.  With  the  fall  of  the 
Benee  Abbas  and  the  disintegration  of  the  Arabian 
Empire,  the  Yemen  became  an  independent  state,  and 
though  arts  and  letters  continued  to  flourish  for  a  time, 
the  people  did  not  long  escape  the  rapid  decadence  that 
set  in  among  the  Arabs  and  spread,  as  if  in  accordance 
with  some  physical  law,  with  a  rapidity  equal  to  that 
of  the  original  uplifting  impulse.  The  origin  of  the 
Zaidie  sect  dates  from  about  this  period.  Among  the 
many  minor  principalities  into  which  the  country  became 
split  up,  this  party,  half  political,  half  sectarian  in  its 
nature,  gradually  became  predominant.  Allusion  has 
already  been  made  to  the  differences  between  the  Sunna 
and  Sheia.  The  Zaidies  belong  to  the  latter  division, 
and  are  distinguished  from  other  Sheia  sects  by  the 
fact  that  they  regard  a  certain  Zaid  ibn  Ali  as  one  of  the 
twelve  Imams.  This  word  “Imam  ”  gives  rise  to  much 
pardonable  confusion,  for  it  means  several  different 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  199 

things  all  in  the  same  connection.  The  twelve  Imams 
of  Islam  are  Ali  and  certain  other  persons  celebrated  in 
Moslem  history,  the  last  being  “  The  Mahdi,”  or  Moslem 
Messiah,  who  has  not  yet  appeared.  The  word  however 
is  also  applied  variously  to  a  temporal  ruler  descended 
from  the  Prophet,  to  a  sort  of  Moslem  priest,  and  to  the 
leader  at  prayers. 

Yahyah,  the  founder  of  the  Zaidie  sect,  proclaimed  him¬ 
self  Imam,  that  is  to  say  ruler  of  all  Moslems,  by  virtue  of 
his  descent  from  the  Prophet.  The  Sheia  do  not  use  the 
title  “  Commander  of  the  Faithful  ”  to  denote  the  supreme 
Moslem  authority,  because  they  consider  it  the  preroga¬ 
tive  of  Ali  ibn  Abee  Talib  and  no  one  else. 

The  Zaidie  theocracy  under  the  dynasty  founded  by 
Yahyah  continued  to  gain  adherents  till  it  assumed  the 
character  of  an  independent  state,  with  Sanaa  the  seat 
of  government.  The  first  European  to  visit  the  Imam 
in  his  capital  was  the  Danish  traveller  Niebuhr,  who  led 
an  expedition  to  the  Yemen  in  a.d.  1761.  He  found  the 
country  rich  and  prosperous,  under  a  government  ap¬ 
parently  stable  and  well  organized.  The  Turks  who  had 
established  control  there  in  the  sixteenth  century  had 
been  expelled,  and  the  former  state  of  complete  inde¬ 
pendence  had  been  regained. 

Although  the  religious  tenets  of  the  Zaidie  sectaries 
were  highly  obnoxious  to  the  Wahabi  reformers,  the 
Yemen,  owing  to  its  geographical  situation  and  the 
natural  barriers  which  protected  it  from  attack  on  the 
landward  side,  suffered  comparatively  little  from  their 
aggressions.  The  war  undertaken  by  Mohammed  Ali,  the 
Sultan’s  viceroy  in  Egypt,  to  recover  the  Hedjaz  and 
break  the  Wahabi  power,  was  the  cause  of  a  quarrel 
between  him  and  the  “Imam  of  Sanaa,”  as  the  Zaidie 
potentate  had  come  to  be  called,  that  led  to  the  occupa¬ 
tion  by  the  former  of  several  of  the  South  Arabian  ports, 
and  part  of  the  Tehama,  or  coast  belt. 

In  1844  the  Imam  was  again  forced  to  acknowledge 
Turkish  suzerainty,  but  it  remained  little  more  than 
nominal  for  another  thirty  years.  In  1872  Mukhtar 
Pasha  invaded  the  Yemen  highlands  and  captured  Sanaa. 
The  Imam,  though  retained  as  a  figure  head,  was  pensioned 
off  by  the  Turks  and  deprived  of  all  real  power.  Like 


200  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


his  immediate  predecessors  he  was  a  weak  degenerate, 
and  the  country  under  his  rule  had  fallen  into  a  state 
of  misgovernment  little  removed  from  anarchy. 

The  first  results  of  the  Turkish  occupation  were  there¬ 
fore  beneficial,  and  it  was  generally  welcomed  for  that 
reason.  Not  many  years  elapsed  however  before  Turkish 
methods  in  their  turn  began  to  cause  discontent.  The 
Arabs  dislike  being  treated  as  a  “subject  race  ”  :  they 
dislike  paying  taxes,  and  still  more  do  they  dislike 
the  Turkish  way  of  collecting  them  :  they  dislike  the 
Turk  for  his  manners,  his  laws,  his  religion,  his  clothes, 
and  his  personal  appearance  :  in  fact  they  dislike  pretty 
well  everything  connected  with  him. 

In  these  circumstances,  as  not  infrequently  happens, 
past  abuses  were  forgotten  in  the  presence  of  actual 
annoyances.  The  advantages  of  peace,  security,  and  a 
decent  administration  (so  far  as  it  went)  ceased  to  be 
appreciated ;  and  men  began  to  attribute  every  evil,  and 
there  were  many,  to  the  foreign  occupation,  and  to  look 
back  with  regret  to  the  days  of  their  country’s  indepen¬ 
dence.  The  smouldering  fire  of  sectarian  fanaticism, 
fanned  by  the  prevailing  discontent,  began  to  smoke 
ominously.  The  feeling  spread  that  the  Zaidies  should 
submit  no  longer  to  the  domination  of  a  race  whose  re¬ 
ligious  doctrines  they  regarded  as  heretical,  and  this 
feeling  culminated  in  a  movement  to  restore  to  the  Imam 
the  throne  that  he  had  been  wrongfully  deprived  of  by 
the  Osmanli. 

The  rebellion  that  broke  out  in  1891  attained  at  first 
a  large  measure  of  success.  Sanaa  was  closely  besieged 
for  several  months,  and  only  relieved  after  severe  fighting. 
Several  less  important  Turkish  garrisons  had  to  capitulate. 
An  army  sent  from  Europe  under  Ahmad  Feizi  Pasha 
succeeded  in  restoring  tranquillity  after  an  arduous  and 
costly  campaign. 

Peace,  however,  did  not  last  long.  Sporadic  out¬ 
breaks  continued  to  occur,  and  in  1905  a  general  revolt 
was  once  more  in  progress.  On  this  occasion  the  rebels 
captured  Sanaa  by  starving  the  garrison  into  submission. 
More  than  seventy  pieces  of  artillery,  together  with  a 
great  quantity  of  small  arms,  ammunition,  and  other 
warlike  equipment,  fell  into  their  hands. 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  201 


Once  more  was  it  necessary  to  send  an  army  from 
Europe  to  vindicate  Ottoman  sovereignty,  and  once  more 
did  success  reward  the  valour  and  determination  of  the 
Turkish  troops.  The  revolt  was  suppressed,  Sanaa  was 
recaptured,  and  all  the  old  positions  reoccupied,  but  only 
at  a  cost  in  blood  and  money  that  it  seems  surprising 
that  Turkey  should  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  incur. 
The  operations,  moreover,  were  indecisive  in  one  way  ; 
the  Imam  and  his  followers  utterly  declined  to  surrender 
any  of  the  weapons  and  stores  they  had  captured,  and  it 
was  only  by  the  Turks  giving  way  on  this  point  that  a 
qualified  peace  was  eventually  patched  up. 

This  last  peace  was  in  reality  little  more  than  a  truce, 
and  would  scarcely  have  proved  as  enduring  as  it  actually 
did  but  for  the  events  in  European  Turkey  in  the  years 
1908-9.  The  genuine  enthusiasm  for  the  new  constitu¬ 
tion,  and  the  high  hopes  it  at  first  inspired,  spread  to 
the  Arabs  themselves  ;  though  the  cause,  the  probable 
effects,  and  the  very  nature  of  the  movement  were  im¬ 
perfectly  understood  on  all  sides.  The  feverish  desire 
of  the  Turkish  statesmen  to  secure  peace  at  home  and 
abroad,  for  a  time  at  any  rate,  led  them  to  promise  the 
Zaidies  wdiat  practically  amounted  to  “  home  rule.” 
They  asked  from  them  time  to  formulate  a  scheme  which 
should  be  satisfactory  to  both  sides,  and  they  were  granted 
it.  In  the  meanwhile,  they  gave  up  all  attempts  to 
collect  revenue  from  the  Arabs.  Even  the  “  octroi  ” 
method  of  taxation  was  abandoned.  Such  was  the  state 
of  affairs  in  1910. 

For  practical  purposes  we  may  consider  the  Zaidie 
country  to  be  the  mountainous  part  of  what  appears  on 
the  map  as  “  the  Yemen.”  This  definition  is  not  strictly 
accurate,  for  the  Ottoman  pashalik  contains  many  Sunna 
tribes,  in  the  south  especially.  The  eastern  boundary 
is  the  desert,  where  the  settled  population  is  replaced  by 
the  nomad  Bedou.  The  western  frontier  is  the  edge  of 
cultivation  on  the  seaward  slopes  ;  what  the  northern 
frontier  may  be  is  an  unsolved  problem.  The  tribes  of  Asir 
are  for  the  most  part  Shafei,  but  where  the  one  ends 
and  the  other  begins  no  one  knows  :  at  any  rate,  the 
writer  does  not. 

The  Yemen  has  not  the  exclusive  character  of  the 


202  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Hedjaz.  It  is  not  considered  holy  ground,  nor  does  any 
special  sanctity  attach  itself  to  Sanaa,  the  capital.  In  the 
days  of  the  Imam,  travellers  and  merchants  were  free,  in 
theory,  to  come  and  go  as  they  pleased,  irrespective  of 
their  race  or  creed.  In  practice,  however,  very  few  cared 
to  do  so,  the  hostility  of  the  population  and  the  dangerous 
condition  of  the  roads  being  sufficient  to  deter  them. 
The  authority  of  the  Imam  was  quite  inadequate  to  protect 
European  travellers  off  the  main  routes,  even  had  he 
chosen  to  exert  it. 

Prior  to  the  second  Turkish  occupation,  in  1872,  com¬ 
paratively  few  Europeans  had  seen  Sanaa,  and  little  had 
been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  scientific  research. 
Niebuhr,  it  is  true,  had  done  much  to  clear  up  an  ignorance 
regarding  this  country  which  was  before  his  day  almost 
complete  ;  but  much  more  remained  and  still  remains 
to  be  accomplished. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  enumerate  the  travellers  to  the 
Yemen  since  the  Turks  established  themselves  there. 
Though  they  have  been  few  in  number,  their  researches 
have  sufficed  to  give  us  a  good  general  idea  of  the  structural 
geography  and  other  physical  characteristics  of  the 
Southern  Yemen,  better,  in  fact,  than  we  possess  of  any 
other  part  of  the  Arabian  peninsula. 

Of  the  highland  country  lying  to  the  north  of  the 
Hodeidah-Sanaa  road,  and  of  Asir,  we  know  next  to 
nothing. 

The  travellers  who  have  accomplished  most  in  this  part 
of  the  world  have  been  drawn  thither  less  by  curiosity 
regarding  its  geography  than  by  the  hope  of  prosecuting 
other  researches.  From  what  has  been  said  concerning 
the  ancient  history  of  these  regions,  it  will  have  been 
gathered  that  they  possess  an  archaeological  interest  second 
to  no  other  part  of  the  world.  The  whole  country  is  rich 
in  relics  of  the  Sabaean  and  Himyaritic  civilizations,  and 
these  are  said  to  be  still  more  numerous  in  the  unexplored 
north  than  in  those  parts  of  which  we  have  actual  know¬ 
ledge. 

Marib,  the  ancient  capital,  is  naturally  the  spot  where 
the  antiquarian  explorer  most  desires  to  pursue  his  in¬ 
vestigations.  Three  travellers  have  reached  it  in  modern 
times  :  Arnaud  in  1843,  Halevy  in  1869,  and  Glaser  in 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  203 


1889.  Most  of  our  knowledge  of  Sabsean  history  has  been 
derived  from  the  work  of  the  last  named  in  copying  and 
deciphering  the  inscriptions  he  found  there. 

Yet  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  explorers  saw 
one  hundredth  part  of  what  there  is  to  be  discovered. 
For  one  thing  little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of  excavation 
was  attempted,  and  in  the  Arabian  desert  drift-sand  may 
quite  alter  the  whole  configuration  of  the  country  in  a 
very  short  space  of  time.  Much  is  probably  covered  by 
the  sand,  and  much  more  lies  in  the  adjacent  country  to 
the  West  and  South-west,  on  what  must  have  been  the  main 
route  to  Hadramout,  which  country  itself  may  well  con¬ 
tain  archaeological  treasures  of  the  existence  of  which 
we  have  at  present  no  idea. 

All  the  travellers  that  reached  Marib  journeyed  in  dis¬ 
guise,  complete  or  partial.  Arnaud  passed  himself  off 
as  a  Magribi  Arab,  Halevy  as  a  learned  Rabbi  on  a  visit 
to  the  Jewish  colony  in  Negran,  and  Glaser,  though  he 
did  not  conceal  his  nationality,  qualified  himself  for  the 
enterprise  by  residing  in  Sanaa  for  several  years  and  by 
professing  Islam.  By  liberal  gifts,  and  entertaining  the 
sheikhs  of  the  Bedou  tribes  when  they  came  to  Sanaa, 
he  managed  to  establish  good  relations  with  them,  and 
was  allowed  ultimately  to  journey  to  Marib  and  spend 
some  time  there  unmolested.  His  expedition  was  made 
without  the  sanction  of  the  Turkish  authorities,  but  they 
did  not  offer  much  active  opposition  to  it. 

Unlike  most  other  travellers  to  these  regions,  I  did  not 
go  to  the  Yemen  for  the  purpose,  primarily,  of  archaeological 
research,  for  which  undertaking  I  do  not  possess  the 
necessary  knowledge.  My  idea  was  to  penetrate  if  pos¬ 
sible  into  Southern  Negd  by  way  of  the  Wadi  Douasir, 
an  enterprise  that  has  much  to  recommend  it.  Who¬ 
ever  succeeds  in  doing  this  will  have  accomplished,  not 
merely  an  adventurous  feat,  but  a  work  of  great  scientific 
value.  It  demands  no  special  qualifications  beyond  a 
knowledge  of  the  Arabic  language  and  the  elementary 
surveying  required  of  all  explorers.  Moreover,  though 
highly  perilous,  there  is  nothing  about  it  that  savours 
of  the  impossible,  as  might  fairly  be  said  of  geographical 
undertakings  sometimes  proposed,  among  them  the  one  to 
cross  the  great  desert  of  Arabia  in  a  motor-car  ? 


204  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


I  decided  to  adopt  somewhat  the  same  plan  as  did 
Glaser  :  that  is  to  say,  to  live  for  some  time  in  Sanaa 
before  attempting  to  go  farther.  If  really  useful  work 
was  to  be  done,  it  would  be  necessary  to  carry  and  use 
certain  instruments,  and  as  this  is  incompatible  with  any 
Eastern  character,  I  decided  not  to  attempt  any  disguise 
on  this  occasion.  Sanaa  suggested  itself  as  an  advanced 
base  for  several  reasons.  Being  a  large  city,  little  known, 
and  in  a  cool  and  healthy  situation,  it  would  be  more 
pleasant  and  profitable  to  spend  several  months  there 
than  at  such  places  as  Makalla  or  Muscat,  for  example. 
If  it  should  become  expedient  to  abandon  the  idea  of 
going  up  to  Riadh,  several  other  alternative  expeditions 
might  be  undertaken  from  Sanaa,  which  ought  to  prove 
almost  equally  fruitful  of  results  scientifically  valuable. 
A  journey  to  Marib  and  thence  down  the  Hadramout 
valley  would  take  me  through  much  unknown  country  ; 
and,  further,  I  had  discovered  that  a  mahmal  journeys 
every  year  from  Sanaa  to  Mecca,  following  a  route  that 
traverses  the  unexplored  Northern  Yemen  and  part  of 
Asir.  It  was  with  a  view  to  accompanying  this,  failing 
anything  better,  that  I  decided  to  use  the  title  of  “Hagi,”* 
which  I  had  acquired  by  having  made  the  pilgrimage, 
with,  of  course,  my  Arabic  name  ;  but  this  time  not 
concealing  the  fact  that  I  was  an  Englishman  by  birth. 
Whichever  way  I  might  go  on  from  Sanaa  it  would  cer¬ 
tainly  be  in  a  Moslem  character,  and,  indeed,  the  only 
objection  that  I  could  see  to  this  course  was  the  inevitable 
trouble  about  passports  at  the  start.  I  could  not  use 
the  Turkish  passport  I  had  procured  at  Marseilles 
because,  for  one  thing,  it  stated  that  I  was  a  Zanzi¬ 
bari,  and  for  another  it  was  obsolete.  I  decided, 
therefore,  to  use  my  English  passport,  and  trust  to  luck 
that  whoever  examined  it  would  be  unable  to  read  English, 
and  would  endeavour  to  conceal  the  fact.  At  the  worst  I 
could  always  explain  that  I  had  become  converted  since 
I  had  taken  it  out,  and  had  declined  to  pay  the  exorbitant 
sum  of  five  shillings  demanded  for  a  new  one — a  reason 

*  The  full  title  of  a  Moslem  who  has  performed  the  pilgrimage  rites 
at  Mecca  on  the  proper  days  and  has  also  visited  Medina  is  “  Hagi-yul- 
haramain-isshareefain  ”  (=  pilgrim  to  the  two  sanctuaries).  The 

word  Hagi  is  prefixed  to  the  name  of  the  pilgrim  from  that  time 
forward. 


YOUNG  TURKEY  AND  THE  YEMEN  205 

that  I  felt  sure  would  appear  good  and  sufficient  to  any 
Turkish  official.  The  question  of  casuistry  involved  had 
not,  and  has  not,  the  slightest  interest  for  me. 

In  conformity  with  the  advice  of  the  Prophet,  who  said, 
“  first  the  friend,  then  the  road,”  I  approached  our  old 
acquaintance  Abdul  Wahid  with  a  view  to  inducing  him  to 
come  with  me.  For  long  he  declined  to  listen,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  accuse  me  of  having  been  the  cause  of  his 
hair  turning  prematurely  grey — a  perfectly  natural  process, 
which  had  begun  while  we  were  in  Mecca.  I  was  able, 
however,  to  adduce  some  powerful  arguments,  and  the 
arrangement  eventually  concluded  was  satisfactory  to 
both  parties.  Abdul  Wahid  was  to  travel  out  with  me 
to  Sanaa,  and  stay  there  one  month,  after  which  he  was 
free  to  return  to  England  or  not  as  he  liked. 

I  was  anxious  to  have  him  with  me — at  the  outset,  at 
any  rate.  For  one  thing,  he  is  a  Sheie,  and  comes  of  a 
well-known  family.  As  such  he  would  be  sure  of  a  welcome 
from  the  fanatical  Zaidie  citizens  of  Sanaa.  He  has  a 
long  tongue,  a  talent  for  introducing  himself  and  for 
making  friends  with  all  and  sundry,  and  is  beside  a  most 
fluent  liar.  Since  our  last  expedition  these  great  qualities 
had  been  running  to  waste,  for  I  had  failed  to  induce 
him  to  adopt  British  nationality  and  stand  for  Parlia¬ 
ment. 

This  matter  settled,  we  turned  our  attention  to  equip¬ 
ment.  So  important  is  this  that  I  make  no  apology  for 
dealing  with  it  at  some  length,  for  though  this  particular 
expedition  was  a  failure,  I  have  made  others,  both  openly 
and  in  disguise,  and  have  further  obtained  the  advice  of 
people  whose  views  on  the  subject  are  entitled  to  more 
respect  than  my  own.  Expeditions,  like  wars,  depend 
for  their  success  on  careful  preparation  beforehand,  on 
taking  the  right  things  and  on  employing  the  right  persons, 
rather  than  on  valour  or  skill,  too  often  displayed  in  an 
emergency  which  should  never  have  arisen. 

Firstly,  as  to  scientific  outfit  :  I  took  a  three-inch 
sextant  and  a  “  black  plate  ”  artificial  horizon — in  my 
opinion,  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  carry  a  larger 
instrument  into  Arabia ;  one  boiling-point  thermometer 
without  the  apparatus  for  boiling  it — which  can  always 
be  improvised  ;  one  sling-thermometer ;  one  combined 


206  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


night -marching  and  prismatic  compass — “Service 
pattern  ” ;  a  cavalry  sketching  board ;  one  aneroid 
barometer,  reading  to  ten  thousand  feet  ;  a  small  case 
of  drawing  instruments ;  two  pairs  of  field-glasses  ;  a 
small  lantern  burning  paraffin  oil,  and  an  electric 
lantern  ;  a  kodak  camera  with  ten  dozen  films  ;  a 
half-chronometer  watch,  and  two  others.  Among  the 
books  I  took  were  the  two  volumes  of  “  Hints  to  Tra¬ 
vellers  ”  *  and  the  parts  of  the  “Nautical  Almanac  ”  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  observations  I  hoped  to  take,*f  for  the  current 
and  next  three  years,  cut  out  and  bound  together.  A 
good  supply  of  stationery  was  not  forgotten.  For  weapons 
I  had  two  revolvers,  one  a  '450  WebleyMark  IV.  Service 
model,  the  other  a  '38  S.  and  W.  I  do  not  recommend 
automatic  pistols  for  Arabia,  and  may  remark  that  the 
traveller  will  be  well  advised  to  take  a  few  spare  pistols, 
if  possible.  They  are  useful  to  arm  one’s  servants  on 
occasion,  and  are  always  acceptable  as  presents,  for 
which  latter  purpose  spare  watches  and  field-glasses  may 
be  taken.  We  made  no  special  arrangements  as  regards 
clothes,  nor  need  any  be  made,  since  the  traveller  will 
perforce  adopt  the  local  costume,  whatever  it  may  happen 
to  be.  Having  some  slight  knowledge  of  medicine,  I  pro¬ 
posed  to  pass  as  a  doctor,  and  therefore  took  a  rather 
more  complete  medical  and  surgical  outfit  than  most 
travellers  would  burden  themselves  with.  Among  other 
things  I  took  was  a  shirt  of  chain  mail — which  next  time 
will  be  left  at  home.  A  fair-sized  tin  box  sufficed  to 
contain  the  whole  of  my  equipment,  clothes  included. 
I  do  not  think  the  apparatus  could  be  further  reduced 
except  at  the  risk  of  sacrificing  the  chance  of  bringing 
back  useful  results.  In  the  event  of  it  proving  impossible 
in  practice  to  carry  or  use  the  instruments,  they  can  always 
be  abandoned.  They  do  not  cost  very  much,  and  it  is 
well  worth  while  taking  them  from  Europe,  in  case  it 
should  be  possible  to  use  them. 

*  Compiled  by  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  and  an  essential 
part  of  the  modern  traveller’s  equipment. 

f  That  is  to  say,  latitude,  time,  and  Azimuth.  Only  about  a  quarter 
of  the  book  is  required.  The  “  mean  places  of  fixed  stars  ”  should  be 
taken  for  the  middle  year.  The  binding  should  be  of  leather,  very 
strong  and  quite  plain,  or  with  a  verse  from  the  Koran  engraved  thereon, 
which,  if  expense  is  no  object,  is  to  be  recommended. 


CHAPTER  XI 


HODEIDAH 

Towards  the  end  of  October  1910  Abdul  Wahid  and  I 
embarked  at  Suez  in  a  ship  called  the  “  Missieh,”  belonging 
to  the  Khedivial  Mail  Company,  and  plying  between  the 
Red  Sea  ports — where  they  are  not  very  particular. 
We  were  bound  for  Hodeidah  via  Jiddah,  Suakim,  and 
Massowa.  It  being  near  the  time  of  the  pilgrimage, 
the  ship  was  full  up  as  far  as  Jiddah.  The  first-class 
passengers  were  for  the  most  part  Egyptian  pilgrims  who 
landed  at  Jiddah ;  those  who  remained  were  nearly  all 
bound  for  the  Yemen,  and  I  observed  them  narrowly 
in  case  there  might  be  any  one  with  whom  it  would  be 
profitable  to  make  friends.  There  was  a  smart-looking 
Turkish  officer  who  occupied,  together  with  his  two 
wives,  one  of  the  large  cabins  forward  ;  but  he  took  his 
meals  there  and  seldom  appeared  on  deck.  Then  there 
was  the  director  of  the  Hodeidah  customs,  a  piratical- 
looking  person  with  a  full  beard ;  I  was  amused  by 
the  very  ostentatious  way  in  which  he  refused  the  vin 
ordinaire  supplied  by  the  company,  and  the  number  of 
empty  brandy  bottles  that  I  saw  the  steward  remove 
from  his  cabin.  These,  with  a  Roumanian  on  his  way  to 
Hodeidah  to  take  up  some  appointment  in  the  audit 
department,  whose  neglect  of  antiseptic  precautions  in 
shaving  and  consequent  affliction  with  “  barber’s  itch  ” 
made  him  an  unsightly  object,  an  Austrian  count  travel¬ 
ling  to  Zanzibar  with  a  companion  somewhat  younger 
than  himself,  Abdul  Wahid,  and  myself,  composed 
the  passenger  list.  The  count,  so  the  Captain  told 
me,  was  quite  a  notability  at  Vienna,  and  it  was  to 
the  presence  of  this  aristocratic  personage  that  we 
were  indebted  for  the  unusually  liberal  bill  of  fare,  which 

207 


208  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


had  at  first  astonished  me.  Having  travelled  in  the 
Red  Sea  before,  I  knew  that  the  commissariat  is  leased 
on  contract  to  the  chief  steward,  usually  a  Greek,  and 
as  sheep’s  brains  are  the  cheapest  kind  of  food  obtainable 
at  Red  Sea  ports,  it  is  on  sheep’s  brains  that  the  passengers 
are  expected  to  subsist.  On  this  occasion,  however,  the 
chief  steward  had  been  told  to  “  spread  himself,”  and 
we  all  appreciated  the  benefit  of  travelling  thus,  in  the 
shadow  of  the  purple. 

It  took  us  eight  days  to  reach  Hodeidah.  The  “  Missieh  ” 
is  not  an  ocean  greyhound,  and  even  in  favourable 
conditions,  with  a  following  wind  and  a  smooth  sea, 
about  six  knots  is  the  most  that  can  be  expected  of  her. 
In  unfavourable  conditions  she  may  stop  altogether  or 
make  stern  way.  The  director  of  the  quarantine  settle¬ 
ment  at  Kamaran  told  me  that  he  had  once  started  from 
that  island  for  Suez  in  one  of  these  ships — I  forget  if  it 
was  this  one  or  another.  The  weather  was  very  bad,  and 
the  director  was  a  very  bad  sailor.  For  three  days  and 
nights  he  lay  in  his  bunk  suffering  the  tortures  that 
happily  only  bad  sailors  know  in  this  world.  On  the 
fourth  day  the  weather  moderated  a  little,  and,  more 
dead  than  alive,  at  last  he  reached  the  deck.  Land  was 
in  sight  on  the  starboard  quarter.  “Thank  God!” 
said  the  director.  “  What  land  is  that,  Captain  ?  ” 
“  Kamaran,”  replied  the  captain,  quite  unmoved. 

The  captain  of  the  “  Missieh  ”  was  an  Englishman,  and 
the  time  passed  pleasantly  enough  for  me  in  swapping 
yarns  with  him,  reading,  or  playing  piquet  with  the  Greek 
doctor.  The  count  and  his  young  friend  spent  their 
time  at  ecarte  and  some  other  game  that  I  was  unable 
to  identify.  There  were  occasional  fracas,  as  for  instance 
when  one  of  the  passengers  wanted  to  take  the  ship  into 
a  port  when  the  Captain  thought  it  better  to  stay  outside, 
and  when  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  a  drunken  Turkish 
officer,  travelling  second  class,  to  instal  himself  in  my 
deck  chair,  led  to  an  unseemly  scuffle  on  the  quarter 
deck. 

We  anchored  one  morning  before  sunrise  off  the  town  of 
Hodeidah,  some  five  miles  from  the  shore.  It  is  sufficiently 
picturesque  seen  thus  at  dawn,  this  group  of  whitewashed 
houses  and  rickety  minarets  on  the  desolate  surf-beaten 


HODEIDAH 


209 


shore,  with  the  dark  mass  of  the  Yemen  mountains  just 
discernible  in  the  background.  I  was  destined  to  have 
several  opportunities  for  admiring  it. 

We  decided,  unwisely  as  it  turned  out,  to  let  all  the 
other  passengers  land  first.  By  so  doing  we  nearly  got 
carried  on  to  Aden,  for  the  “  Sambook  ”  *  that  took 
them  ashore,  thinking  there  were  no  more  on  board,  did 
not  return. 

We  got  a  boat  eventually,  and  reached  the  shore  about 
midday.  On  landing  we  were  accosted  by  a  dissipated 
looking  official  in  a  dirty  uniform  who  inquired  our 
names  and  nationalities.  The  Custom  House  formalities 
did  not  trouble  us  much,  for  Abdul  Wahid  and  I  had 
had  some  practice  in  dealing  with  them.  Our  boxes 
were  not  opened,  and  if  any  money  changed  hands  it 
did  not  go  to  swell  the  Ottoman  revenues. 

The  harbour  of  Hodeidah,  which  consists  of  a  sea  wall 
enclosing  about  a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  water,  is  available 
only  for  the  smallest  craft.  It  cost  to  build,  notwith¬ 
standing,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling  ;  or 
rather,  approximately  that  sum  of  money  was  voted  for 
its  construction,  which  in  Turkey  is  not  quite  the  same 
thing.  The  town  is  fronted  by  a  sort  of  plage,  used  as  a 
depository  for  merchandise  just  landed  or  awaiting 
shipment.  To  the  right  of  the  harbour  as  one  lands  is 
the  “  Casino,”  as  they  are  pleased  to  call  the  tumble- 
down  building  which  serves  the  purposes  of  a  hotel, 
eating-house,  and  canteen  combined.  When  we  inquired 
for  accommodation  it  was  to  this  place  that  we  were 
directed.  The  ground  floor  we  found  to  be  divided  into 
two  equally  gloomy  and  fly-blown  compartments,  one 
of  which  contained  a  long  table  and  was  used  as  a  dining¬ 
room,  while  the  other  was  crowded  with  Turkish  officers 
smoking,  drinking  coffee,  playing  backgammon,  and 
spitting  on  the  mud  floor.  We  ascended  a  rickety  stair¬ 
case  inches  deep  in  dust,  and  strewn  with  refuse,  to  the 
sleeping  apartments,  which  contain  anything  from  four 
to  a  dozen  pallets  of  string  or  leather,  laced  into  a  wooden 
frame  and  supported  by  four  legs,  one  of  which  however 
is  often  missing. 

In  this  caravanserai  we  decided  to  put  up  and 

*  The  lateen-rigged  dhows  of  the  Red  Sea. 


14 


210  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


then  partook  of  a  lunch  served  by  the  proprietor  of 
the  establishment,  a  Jew,  the  very  sight  of  whom  in 
other  circumstances  might  have  sufficed  to  put  one  off 
one’s  food  for  a  week.  He  was  assisted  in  his  duties  as 
host  by  a  small  Arab  boy,  like  himself  a  stranger  to  soap 
and  water,  but  fortunately  wearing  fewer  clothes. 

During  lunch  we  held  a  consultation.  We  knew  that 
we  had  by  no  means  done  with  the  landing  authorities  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that,  though  our  ship  was  sailing  in  a 
few  hours  and  there  would  be  no  other  for  a  fortnight, 
they  had  not  even  demanded  our  passports.  I  was  in 
favour  of  waiting  till  the  ship  had  gone  and  then  calling 
on  the  chief  of  the  police  to  explain  our  object  in  coming 
to  the  country  and  invite  his  assistance.  The  arrival 
of  a  couple  of  policemen  with  a  request  that  we  should 
present  ourselves  forthwith  at  the  “  Seraya  ”  terminated 
the  discussion.  We  found  the  Government  offices — the 
word  really  means  a  palace — to  be  another  unstable¬ 
looking  erection,  situated  a  hundred  yards  or  so  from  the 
Casino,  facing  the  sea.  The  “  Commissaire,”  that  is 
the  officer  in  charge  of  the  police,  received  us  politely : 
much  bowing,  cigarettes,  the  inevitable  cup  of  coffee, 
and  remarks  about  the  weather.  His  official  position 
compelled  him,  so  it  appeared,  to  pursue  certain  for¬ 
malities  in  all  cases,  even  with  the  most  distinguished 
visitors,  and  might  he  see  our  passports  ?  We  were 
delighted.  The  careful  and  methodical  way  in  which 
these  duties  were  carried  out  by  the  Ottoman  police  under 
the  new  regime  was,  as  Abdul  Wahid  observed,  the 
admiration  of  every  true  friend  of  progress.  The  pass¬ 
ports  were  accordingly  handed  over  and  subjected  to  a 
careful  scrutiny.  Mine  seemed  to  puzzle  the  Com¬ 
missaire,  the  more  perhaps  for  the  fact  that  he  was 
reading  it  upside  down.  In  the  end  he  scribbled  some¬ 
thing  on  the  back  and  returned  them,  asking  why  we 
had  come  to  the  Yemen  and  where  we  wanted  to  go.  I  told 
him  that  I  was  an  explorer  bound  for  the  unknown 
interior  of  Arabia,  and  that  Abdul  Wahid  was  a  learned 
antiquary  who  had  come  there  to  buy  books,  and  that 
we  both  proposed  to  go  up  to  Sanaa  the  next  day  if 
possible.  The  Commissaire  was  truly  grieved.  Most 
unluckily  all  the  transport  available  had  been  com- 


HODEIDAH 


211 


mandeered  for  some  Turkish  officers  just  arrived,  and 
we  should  have  to  wait  several  days  before  the  mules 
required  for  ourselves  and  our  escort  could  be  procured. 
An  escort  he  told  us  was  quite  essential,  as  the  road  was 
infested  with  robbers  ;  but  he  himself  would  arrange 
everything  for  us  and  let  us  know  when  we  could  go. 
On  this  we  took  our  leave. 

The  next  morning  we  had  our  first  interview  with 
the  Mutassarif  (Lieutenant-Governor).  Informed  of  our 
arrival  and  intentions,  by  the  Commissaire  presumably, 
His  Excellency  lost  no  time  in  requiring  our  presence. 

I  saw  at  once  that  we  had  to  deal  with  a  bad  man — 
from  our  point  of  view.  He  was  a  middle-aged  Albanian 
with  long  thick  hair,  a  heavy  moustache,  and  extraordi¬ 
narily  bright  eyes.  His  staccato  speech  and  constant 
twitching  of  the  hands  evidenced  a  neurotic  tempera¬ 
ment.  He  almost  snatched  my  passport  from  me,  read 
it  hurriedly,  the  right  way  up,  and  examined  attentively 
the  visas  on  the  back,  commenting  on  them  aloud. 
When  he  came  to  “  Tripoli  in  Barbary  ”  he  put  the 
document  down  and  fixed  me  with  a  prolonged  mesmeric 
stare,  under  which  I  preserved  as  sphynx-like  an  ex¬ 
pression  as  I  could  command.  Since  my  passport  bore 
the  stamps  and  visas  of  nearly  every  country  in  the  Near 
East,  this  struck  me  as  curious  at  the  time — but  of 
course  it  may  have  been  mere  coincidence. 

Questioning  me  further,  he  asked  where  I  came  from, 
and  here  arose  a  difficulty  due  to  a  confusion  of  thought 
to  which  our  habit  of  saying  Englishman  when  we  mean 
Briton  often  gives  rise.  There  are  some  things  about 
our  country  that  no  Turk  can  ever  quite  comprehend. 
One  is  our  system  of  family  names,  another  our  counties. 
When  he  asked  this  question  I  told  him  I  was  an  English¬ 
man.  “  Yes,  yes,”  he  burst  out,  choking  with  excitement, 
“but  what  sort  of  an  Englishman  ?  Are  you  an  Irishman 
or  a  Scotchman  or  what  ?  ”  “None  of  these,”  I  replied, 
“an  Englishman  tout  bonnement .”  “Heavens!  ”  exclaimed 
the  Mutassarif,  “I  am  an  Albanian,  this  man  is  a  Syrian, 
that  man  is  a  Sharkas,  but  we  are  all  Ottoman.  What 
part  of  England  do  you  come  from,  then  ?  ” 

I  explained  at  some  length,  but  without  making  him 
understand.  Turning  from  me  to  Abdul  Wahid  he  began 


212  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


questioning  him  in  the  same  way,  and  soon  elicited  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  Sheie,  on  which  he  made  a  contemp¬ 
tuous  comment.  This  surprised  me,  for  the  partisans 
of  the  new  regime  are  not  supposed  to  recognize  these 
sectarian  differences,  and  few  Turks  of  this  class  care  much 
about  religion  in  any  form.  The  explanation  was  forth¬ 
coming  later,  but  the  immediate  result  was  to  make 
Abdul  Wahid  very  angry.  Though  by  no  means  of  a 
quarrelsome  disposition,  Abdul  Wahid  is  irritable  on  this 
one  point.  If  one  wants  to  excite  him  it  is  only  necessary 
to  say  that  Abu  Bakar  was  a  better  man  than  Ali,  in 
order  to  make  quite  sure  of  having  to  listen  for  the  next 
hour  or  so  to  a  dissertation  intended  to  prove  the  con¬ 
trary. 

Several  other  people  were  present  at  this  interview, 
among  them  the  Kadhi  of  Hodeidah,  who  nodded  in 
approval  of  Abdul  Wahid’s  angry  remonstrance — at 
which  the  Mutassarif  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  changed 
the  subject.  The  relations  between  us  were  evidently 
not  improved,  and  though  we  left  with  a  promise  that 
an  escort  should  be  found  for  us  eventually,  it  was 
qualified  by  a  warning  that  we  should  have  to  stay  some 
time  in  Hodeidah,  and  that  the  Mutassarif  would  want 
to  see  us  again  to  make  further  inquiries. 

He  saw  us  again  the  next  day,  for  I  knew  better  than 
to  let  him  lead  every  time,  or  think  that  I  was  willing 
to  wait  his  good  pleasure  to  see  me.  I  told  him  that  I 
wanted  to  go  up  to  Sanaa  at  once,  and  had  come  to  ask 
when  the  mules  would  be  ready.  If  there  was  to  be  any 
long  delay  I  preferred  to  make  my  own  arrangements. 
The  Mutassarif  repeated  in  fairly  polite  terms  that  we 
should  have  to  wait  for  a  time,  then,  addressing  Abdul 
Wahid  in  Persian,  a  language  the  others  present  did  not 
understand,  he  told  him  that  it  was  no  good  our  coming 
to  the  Seraya  again,  that  he  did  not  intend  to  let  us  go, 
and  that  as  far  as  he,  Abdul  Wahid,  was  concerned,  being 
an  Ottoman  subject,  the  sooner  he  left  the  country  the 
better.  He  added  that  he  was  suspicious  of  us  both. 
The  object  of  this  was  quite  plain  :  the  sense  of  his  words 
was  sure  to  be  conveyed  to  me  directly  we  got  outside, 
and  if  the  British  Consul  or  any  one  else  got  nasty  about 
it,  he  could  always  deny  having  said  anything  of  the 


HODEIDAH 


213 


sort  since  I  did  not,  or  professed  not,  to  understand 
Persian.  This  is  a  good  typical  specimen  of  what  the 
Turks  consider  diplomacy. 

I  was  told  afterwards  that  if  I  had  got  to  know  this  man 
better  I  should  have  come  to  like  him.  He  had  been 
educated  for  “the  Church  5 5 — but  had  abandoned  the 
career  of  an  Aalim  for  that  of  a  soldier,  while  continuing 
his  theological  studies  as  a  recreation.  His  knowledge 
of  the  law  was,  so  the  Kadhi  told  me,  profound  ;  in  fact, 
he  would  probably  have  distinguished  himself  in  almost 
any  line.  He  spoke  Arabic  and  Persian  with  great 
fluency  and  cultured  style.  His  French  was  excellent, 
though  marred  by  an  unfortunate  habit  he  had  acquired 
of  referring  to  any  third  person  as  “  ce-cochon-la ,”  re¬ 
gardless  of  the  fact  that  his  interlocutor  might  not  care 
about  having  his  friends  indicated  to  him  in  that  way. 
Though  very  unpopular  with  the  townspeople,  he  was 
admitted  to  be  a  good  soldier,  and,  a  far  less  common 
virtue  in  Turkey,  he  was  said  to  be  unbribable.  He 
suffered  from  a  morbid  dread  of  assassination,  particularly 
by  poison.  At  this  second  interview  we  met  the  drago¬ 
man  of  the  British  Vice-Consulate,  who  was  acting  for 
the  Consul  during  the  latter’s  absence  on  leave.  I  had 
had  no  dealings  so  far  with  the  Consulate,  because  it 
is  always  preferable,  when  possible,  to  manage  these 
things  unofficially.  Once  introduced  to  him,  however,  I 
decided  to  confide  our  case  to  him  in  his  official  capacity, 
and,  having  done  so,  wrote  at  his  suggestion  an  official 
letter,  begging  the  good  offices  of  the  Consul  with  the 
local  authorities,  to  induce  them  to  grant  the  escort  and 
other  assistance  necessary  for  us  to  proceed  to  Sanaa  with¬ 
out  further  delay.  Thereupon,  also  in  his  official  capacity, 
he  wrote  to  the  Mutassarif  requesting  that  the  necessary 
arrangements  might  be  made.  He  told  me  that  it  was 
not  likely  this  letter  would  be  answered  unless  he  insisted 
on  it,  and  he  strongly  advised  me  to  await  the  arrival  of 
the  Vice-Consul  himself,  who  was  due  in  about  a  fortnight, 
and  in  the  meantime  to  have  no  further  dealings  with  the 
Turkish  authorities,  and  if  sent  for  by  them  to  pay  no 
attention  to  the  summons. 

The  subjects  of  the  great  Powers  are  protected  through¬ 
out  the  Ottoman  Empire  by  what  are  known  as  the 


214  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


“  capitulations.”  These  are  concessions  granted  by,  or 
extorted  from,  the  Porte  at  various  times,  which  have 
the  effect  of  removing  foreigners  in  Turkey  from  Turkish 
jurisdiction.  For  their  justification  Europe  urges  that 
the  Turkish  system  of  jurisprudence  is  not  in  conformity 
with  modern  civilization,  nor  can  the  administration  of 
impartial  justice  be  relied  upon  where  foreigners  are 
concerned. 

A  foreigner,  therefore,  belonging  to  a  Power  to  which 
capitulations  have  been  granted  is  subject,  not  to  Turkish 
law,  but  to  that  of  his  own  country.  In  criminal  cases 
he  is  tried,  not  by  a  Turkish  court,  but  before  his  own 
Consul  ;  and  in  cases  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
latter,  before  a  judge  belonging  to  his  own  country,  who 
resides  in  Constantinople  and  makes  periodical  circuits 
in  order  to  try  such  cases.  When  an  Ottoman  subject 
and  a  foreigner  are  parties  to  a  civil  suit,  the  action  may 
be  brought  before  a  Turkish  court  provided  that  the 
Consul  concerned  or  his  representative  be  present. 
There  are  also  rules  for  the  procedure  in  other  cases, 
as  where  both  parties  are  subjects  of  different  foreign 
Powers. 

In  ordinary  circumstances  the  Turkish  police  cannot 
legally  arrest  a  foreigner  under  the  capitulations,  search 
him,  enter  his  house,  or  interfere  with  him  in  any  way 
except  by  permission  of  his  Consul. 

In  certain  very  special  circumstances,  when  actual 
violence  is  threatened,  when  it  is  impossible  to  communi¬ 
cate  with  the  Consul,  or  in  case  of  armed  rebellion,  the 
authorities  are  justified  in  dispensing  with  this  permission 
provided  that  the  facts  of  the  case  are  reported  at  once 
to  the  Consul  concerned. 

It  does  not  appear  that  a  state  of  siege  has  the  effect 
of  suspending  these  guarantees  even  temporarily  :  but 
foreigners  seem  liable  to  trial  by  court  martial  in  such 
conditions  provided  that  their  Consul  be  represented. 

The  reason  for  this  rather  lengthy  reference  to  the 
legal  aspect  of  the  capitulations  will  appear.  It  became 
of  great  importance  to  us  later  on.  A  few  only  of  the 
principal  points  have  been  mentioned  ;  there  is  much 
more,  relating  to  the  position  of  foreign  companies,  banks, 
and  so  on,  which  though  interesting  enough  would  be  out 


HODEIDAH 


215 


of  place  here.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  other  countries 
beside  Turkey  have  been  forced  to  grant  capitulations 
to  the  European  Powers :  in  some  instances,  in  that  of 
Japan  for  example,  these  privileges  have  been  voluntarily 
given  up  when  the  progress  of  the  country  granting  them 
seemed  to  justify  their  surrender. 

The  capitulations  are  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  many  a 
Turkish  official,  who  finds  himself  powerless  before  them 
to  act  toward  foreigners  in  the  manner  his  fears  or 
rapacity  would  dictate.  Thus  it  is  that  in  a  Turkish 
town  we  find  that  most  of  the  richer  and  more  pros¬ 
perous  citizens  claim  foreign  nationality.  This  is 
more  particularly  the  case  in  such  places  as  Hodeidah, 
where,  though  there  are  no  Englishmen,  there  is  a  large 
community  of  British  Indians,  which  depends  for  its 
prosperity  on  the  vigilance  and  firmness  of  the  British 
Consul.  To  all  this  is  due  the  stipulation  made  by  the 
Porte  that  no  foreigner  can  own  land  in  the  interior  of 
the  Arabian  provinces. 

The  term  “Dragoman”  is  a  corruption  of  a  word 
meaning  “  interpreter.”  It  was  a  somewhat  inappro¬ 
priate  title  in  this  case,  for  our  friend,  the  Consular  drago¬ 
man,  knew  no  language  except  Arabic,  and,  as  he  said 
himself,  not  much  of  that.  He  was  of  Persian  extraction, 
but  had  been  born  in  Hodeidah  and  lived  there  all  his 
life.  What  he  did  not  know  about  the  place  and  the 
people  was  not  worth  knowing. 

When  it  became  evident  that  we  should  have  to  stay 
some  time  in  Hodeidah,  we  decided  to  leave  the  Casino 
and  seek  quarters  elsewhere.  Eventually  we  hired  the 
top  story  of  a  small  house  in  the  market — to  which  we 
removed  ourselves  and  our  belongings.  The  houses  in 
Hodeidah  generally  consist  of  three  or  four  stories,  built  of 
stone  or  brick.  It  is  usual  to  build  over  part  of  the  flat 
roof  with  a  mud  and  wattle  shed  open  on  one  side,  which 
adds  an  extra  story,  and  is  the  pleasantest  part  of  the 
house  to  sleep  in — especially  in  the  hot  weather. 

We  had  had  quite  enough  of  the  Casino.  It  was  full 
of  Turks,  officers  and  soldiers  of  all  ranks,  who  dined  at 
sundown  and  then  retired  upstairs,  where  they  changed 
into  their  nightgowns  and  sat  talking  till  all  hours. 
What  with  them  and  the  vermin  which  infested  the  place, 


216  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 

it  was  difficult  to  get  any  sleep  and  impossible  to  get  any 
private  conversation. 

The  town  of  Hodeidah  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  a 
wall,  roughly  semicircular  in  shape,  which  reaches  the 
shore  at  both  ends.  The  old  town,  situated  within  this 
space,  consists  of  tall  stone  houses,  narrow  streets,  and 
covered  markets.  Outside  the  wall  and  bordering  on  it, 
there  is  a  large  area  of  thatched  houses  and  compounds, 
recalling  the  native  villages  of  Uganda  and  other  parts  of 
Africa. 

It  is  a  dirty,  insanitary  place,  and  by  no  means  healthy, 
though  in  so  far  as  the  climate  is  concerned,  it  compares 
favourably  with  Massawa,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Red 
Sea.  The  heat  is  not  insupportable  even  in  summer, 
owing  to  the  breeze,  which  seldom  fails  entirely.  The 
water-supply  is  plentiful  and  good  compared  to  that  of 
most  of  the  Red  Sea  ports.  The  humidity  of  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  is  extreme,  and  it  is  necessary  to  keep  a  watchful 
eye  on  such  things  as  steel  instruments,  which  may  become 
ruined  in  a  few  hours  if  not  attended  to. 

The  population  is  very  mixed.  The  mercantile  class 
consists  mostly  of  British  Indians,  both  Moslems  and 
“  Banyans  ”  being  represented,  and  Greeks.  Beside  the 
Consular  officers,  there  are  a  few  Europeans  engaged  in 
commerce.  Somalis,  Abyssinians,  and  Arabs  from  Aden 
and  Hadramout  are  very  numerous.  Most  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  seem  to  be  entitled  to  foreign  protection — ■ 
British  or  Italian.  It  is  surprising  how  few  Arabs  from 
the  highland  country  are  to  be  seen  in  Hodeidah. 

The  principal  article  of  export  is  coffee,  which  grows 
on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  hills  in  the  interior,  and  is 
shipped  from  Hodeidah,  which  has  supplanted  the  better 
known  Mocha  as  the  centre  of  this  industry.  Imports 
are  of  less  consequence  than  might  be  expected,  for  the 
Yemen  produces  itself  practically  all  it  requires. 

A  fair-sized  garrison  is  kept  at  Hodeidah,  and  as  it  is 
also  the  depot  for  the  stations  in  the  interior,  the  place 
is  always  full  of  soldiers  even  in  peace  time.  The  only 
defensive  work,  beside  the  over-built  town  wall,  is  a  small 
fort  to  the  north  of  the  town,  so  much  in  need  of  repair, 
or  rather  reconstruction,  that  when  it  is  necessary  to  fire 
a  gun  for  saluting  purposes  the  piece  is  taken  outside 


HODEIDAH  217 

for  fear  that  the  concussion  might  cause  the  whole  fort 
to  collapse. 

I  will  pass  over  the  time  we  spent  here  in  as  few  words 
as  possible.  Thanks  to  the  kindness  of  the  dragoman 
we  were  less  bored  than  we  otherwise  should  have  been. 
He  warned  us  that  the  authorities  were  highly  suspicious 
concerning  us  and  that  we  were  closely  watched.  This 
indeed  was  sufficiently  obvious,  for  the  Turkish  policeman 
is  far  from  being  a  Sherlock  Holmes. 

A  few  days  before  the  Consul  was  expected  to  arrive  we 
were  sent  for  by  the  “  Commissaire.”  This  in  my  case, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Consulate  had  communicated 
with  the  local  authorities,  was  an  impertinence  of  which 
the  dragoman  told  me  I  was  to  take  no  notice,  but  Abdul 
Wahid  of  course  had  to  go.  He  was  told  that  a  telegram 
had  been  received  from  the  Vali  (Governor- General) 
forbidding  our  journey  to  Sanaa. 

This  of  course  was  the  merest  bluff,  a  ballon  d’essai 
of  which  the  Mutassarif  took  very  good  care  to  make  no 
mention  in  his  correspondence  with  the  Consul  on  the 
subject.  Abdul  Wahid’s  indignation  however  was  really 
very  funny.  He  had  been  such  an  enthusiastic  partisan 
of  “  Young  Turkey,”  and  had  believed  so  fervently  that 
the  constitution  had  regenerated  his  countrymen,  that 
it  was  particularly  irritating  to  him  to  be  treated  in  this 
way  before  one  who  had  always  been  a  “  scoffer.”  What 
crime  had  he  committed,  he  asked,  and  where  was 
liberty  ?  I  was  sure  I  didn’t  know.  Why  any  one  should 
suppose  that  the  substitution  of  an  aged  recluse  for 
that  very  capable  man  Abdul  Hamid,  and  the  summoning 
of  a  few  hundred  so-called  deputies  to  waste  the  public 
money  and  listen  to  discussions  in  a  language  that  many 
of  them  do  not  half  understand  (and  few  of  them  would 
be  much  the  wiser  if  they  did),  should  modify  the  whole 
character  of  an  administration  which  is  the  growth  of 
centuries,  was  what  I  thought  really  remarkable. 

Abdul  Wahid  could  not  see  it  in  this  light.  Like  the 
Cardinal  at  Rheims  “he  called  for  his  candle,  his  bell 
and  his  book  ”  and  solemnly  cursed  Young  Turkey  root, 
branch,  and  derivative.  The  Mutassarif  he  said  was 
undoubtedly  an  “  ibn  wazagh,”  a  reptile  of  so  exceedingly 
noxious  a  character  that  it  may  properly  be  killed  within 


218  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Haram  itself.  Disheartened, 
he  pointed  out  that  a  total  eclipse  of  the  moon  had 
occurred  on  the  night  of  our  arrival,  and  in  face  of  this 
portent  it  was  sheer  foolishness  to  go  on  with  the  ex¬ 
pedition.  I  had  much  better  give  up  the  idea  and  go 
on  with  him  to  Persia.  To  this  I  responded  with  the 
Arabic  equivalent  of  “  Rot  !  ” 

Abdul  Wahid  was  really  anxious  to  see  Sanaa,  and  as  I 
could  not  afford  to  keep  him  long,  and  he  was  no  use  to 
me  in  Hodeidah,  I  gave  him  leave  to  go  up  on  his  own 
account  if  he  could  get  permission.  Abdul  Wahid  did 
his  best  :  he  got  one  of  the  most  influential  and  respected 
citizens,  a  personal  friend  of  the  Mutassarif,  to  accompany 
him  to  the  latter.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  this  gentleman 
had  received  letters  from  a  London  bank  proving  that 
Abdul  Wahid  was  exactly  what  he  pretended  to  be,  the 
Mutassarif  was  both  obdurate  and  insulting.  He  told 
Abdul  Wahid  that  he  did  not  believe  a  word  of  his  story, 
that  there  was  a  ship  sailing  in  a  few  days  and  he  had 
better  take  it,  “  for,”  he  concluded,  thumping  the  table, 
“if  you  stay  here  for  ever,  neither  you  nor  that  friend 
of  yours  shall  take  one  single  step  outside  Hodeidah.” 
“  We’ll  see  about  that,”  I  thought  when  this  remark  was 
reported  to  me. 

All  this  Was  annoying,  but  I  was  not  very  much  con¬ 
cerned  thereby,  for  I  had  experienced  much  the  same 
sort  of  thing  before.  The  Consul,  when  he  arrived,  so 
the  dragoman  told  me,  would  soon  set  matters  right. 
The  Turks  always  went  on  in  this  way  and  did  what 
they  could  to  prevent  Europeans  going  to  Sanaa,  but 
they  generally  had  to  give  way  in  the  end. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  evident  that  Abdul  Wahid 
could  be  of  no  further  help  to  me,  and  that  his  presence 
was  actually  the  cause  of  suspicion  concerning  my  in¬ 
tentions.  I  therefore  gave  him  leave  to  go,  as  suggested, 
by  the  next  steamer. 

The  hostility  shown  to  us  was,  I  learned,  to  be  explained 
in  part  by  the  persistent  rumours  in  circulation  that 
another  rising  was  imminent.  This  subject  was  supposed 
not  to  be  discussed,  and  any  one  mentioning  it  did  so 
with  bated  breath.  We  were  warned  on  no  account  to 
speak  of  the  Imam — particularly  in  the  presence  of  a 


HODEIDAH 


219 


certain  Afghan  who  had  lately  been  insinuating  himself 
into  our  company,  whose  generally  unwholesome  ap¬ 
pearance  was  heightened  by  the  disgusting  condition 
of  his  front  teeth,  which  he  was  fond  of  displaying  in  an 
oily  smile.  This  man  was,  we  were  told,  in  charge  of 
the  police  detailed  to  watch  our  movements. 

Our  landing  indeed  had  been  unfortunate  in  several 
ways.  A  quarrel  was  in  progress  at  the  time  between 
the  Turkish  authorities  and  the  Italian  Consul-General. 
The  facts  of  this  incident,  which  became  famous  as  the 
“  Sambook  affair,”  are  worth  relating. 

Somewhere  about  the  middle  of  October  a  Turkish 
gunboat  patrolling  the  Arabian  coast  discovered  a 
sambook  landing  cargo  on  the  shore.  This  cargo  was 
being  received  by  a  caravan  of  camels  which  made  off 
when  the  gunboat  came  in  sight.  It  certainly  did  look 
fishy,  and  the  officer  in  charge  was  probably  quite  justified 
in  arresting  the  Abyssinian  captain  on  a  charge  of  gun- 
running,  in  spite  of  his  protest  that  the  cargo  was  only 
ginger,  the  fact  of  what  was  left  of  it  seeming  to  bear 
out  this  assertion,  and  his  having  hoisted  the  Italian 
flag.  The  gunboat  then  went  on  to  tow  the  sambook 
into  Hodeidah,  the  latter  still  flying  the  Italian  flag. 
This  annoyed  the  Italian  Consul-General,  who  claimed 
that  nothing  had  been  proved,  and  that  the  sambook 
should  be  handed  over  to  him  and  the  captain  released. 
The  Vali  however  asserted  that  the  circumstantial  evi¬ 
dence  was  sufficient,  and  that  the  sambook  was  forfeit.  A 
court  of  inquiry  was  ordered  to  assemble  and  decide 
what  the  sambook  really  did  contain.  The  result  of  its 
deliberations  was  communicated  to  the  Italian  repre¬ 
sentative  in  the  following  terms  :  “ In  conformity  with 
orders  received  from  His  Excellency  the  Governor- General 
the  Court  decide  that  the  cargo  was  contraband  and  that 
the  sambook  must  be  confiscated.” 

The  Italian  Consul-General,  as  he  says  himself,  is  a 
man  of  peace,  but  there  are  limits.  He  swore  that  the 
Vali  should  repent  this  outrage.  Meanwhile  the  honour 
of  Italy  was  in  his  charge,  and  it  was  in  safe  keeping. 
Having  arrayed  himself  in  full  uniform,  put  on  all  his 
orders  and  his  Consular  sword,  he  proceeded,  together 
with  a  handful  of  his  Kavasses,  to  row  out  to  the  sambook 


220  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


and  take  possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  Itaty,  while  send¬ 
ing  an  intimation  to  the  Mutassarif  that  he  was  doing  so. 

This  incident  caused  a  great  sensation :  the  whole 
population  of  Hodeidah  spent  that  day  on  the  beach 
waiting  events,  and  gazing  at  the  little  sambook  rolling 
at  anchor  in  the  heavy  swell,  in  which  sat  that  very  in¬ 
different  sailor  the  heroic  representative  of  Italy,  with 
his  devoted  followers. 

Meanwhile  the  “  local  authorities  ”  held  high  council 
in  the  “  Seraya.”  “  C e-cochon-la  ”  was  in  great  per¬ 
plexity.  This  open  defiance  of  Ottoman  authority  must 
have  a  disastrous  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  Arabs  with 
whom,  as  the  dragoman  put  it,  “  the  beach  was  black.” 
On  the  other  hand,  if  he  attempted  to  retake  the  sambook 
by  force,  the  Consul  would  probably  be  killed,  in  which 
case  Italy  was  likely  to  insist  on  himself  being  hanged 
just  by  way  of  a  preliminary,  which  point,  if  it  did  not 
suit  the  Porte  to  go  to  war,  would  be  conceded,  in  the  hope 
of  lessening  the  amount  of  indemnity  to  be  paid  ;  a  policy 
which,  however  sound  from  the  taxpayer’s  point  of  view, 
would  be  none  the  less  unpleasant  for  the  Mutassarif. 
Eventually  he  telegraphed  to  the  Vali  for  instructions, 
much  to  the  annoyance  of  that  high  functionary,  who 
disliked  being  saddled  with  a  responsibility  that  he  con¬ 
sidered  his  subordinate  ought  to  have  taken  on  himself. 
He  decided  wisely  to  do  nothing  ;  so  the  unfortunate 
Consul,  who  would  have  died  rather  than  abandon  his 
position,  remained  on  board  for  many  days,  during  which 
the  interest  and  excitement  showed  no  signs  of  diminishing. 
Eventually  the  Mutassarif,  by  no  means  a  bad  sort,  if 
the  truth  were  known,  hit  on  a  brilliant  idea.  On  the 
occasion  of  the  Sultan’s  birthday  he  held  a  reception, 
to  which  he  sent  the  Consul  an  invitation  under  a  flag 
of  truce  !  His  advances  were  not  repulsed  ;  the  Consul 
accepted,  with  the  tacit  understanding  that  the  sambook 
should  not  be  seized  during  his  absence,  and  once  ashore 
did  not  go  aboard  again.  A  few  days  later  the  arrival  of 
an  Italian  cruiser  relieved  the  tension. 

Some  people  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  Consul  was  a 
fool  to  act  as  he  did  ;  but  I  have  always  considered  that 
it  was  very  sporting  of  him. 

The  real  discussion  now  began,  and  the  original  matter 


HODEIDAH  221 

in  dispute — whether  the  sambook  contained  ginger  or 
gunpowder — was  soon  lost  sight  of.  In  the  course  of 
the  controversy  as  to  whether  the  Italian  Consul  was 
justified  or  not  in  taking  this  strong  line  of  action  many 
thousands  of  pounds  went  in  cablegrams.  The  Turks 
demanded  the  dismissal  of  the  Consul,  the  Italians  that 
of  the  Governor.  It  was  finally  decided  to  hold  a  joint 
commission,  and  some  months  later  the  delegates  arrived, 
the  Italian  escorted  by  a  large  cruiser,  the  Turk  by  five 
gun-boats.  Meanwhile  the  unfortunate  sambook,  left 
to  itself,  began  to  fill  with  water,  and  at  the  time  of  our 
arrival  was  in  imminent  danger  of  foundering. 

The  commissioners  laboured  long  at  the  examination 
of  witnesses,  and  even  went  up  the  coast  to  the  spot  where 
the  sambook  had  been  captured,  though,  the  Arab  war 
having  begun,  a  large  force  was  necessary  to  escort  them 
there.  They  failed,  however,  to  arrive  at  a  settlement, 
and  at  last  it  was  agreed  to  refer  the  whole  matter  to 
arbitration,  Great  Britain  to  be  appointed  umpire.  The 
sambook  and  its  cargo  together  were  worth  perhaps  £100. 

How  the  matter  would  have  ended  is  doubtful,  though 
on  the  face  of  it  the  Turkish  case  seemed  the  stronger. 
The  parties  to  this  dispute  having  since  decided  to  submit 
all  their  differences  to  the  only  really  satisfactory  arbitra¬ 
ment,  we  shall  never  know  for  certain. 

•  •  •  •  • 

The  British  Consul  came  in  due  course,  much  to  my  re¬ 
lief,  though  not  by  the  Khedivial  boat,  as  we  had  expected, 
but  from  Aden.  Arriving  there  from  Europe,  he  had  run 
across  a  friend  of  his,  who  was  captain  of  a  ship  carrying 
pilgrims  to  the  quarantine  island  of  Kamaran,  and  as 
this  was  a  station  that  the  Consul  was  bound  to  inspect,  he 
had  decided  to  go  there  with  him.  In  consequence,  when 
he  did  arrive  at  Hodeidah,  he  was  in  quarantine.  Learning 
how  matters  stood,  Captain  Newby,  who  commanded,  was 
so  kind  as  to  invite  me  aboard,  and  the  Consul,  to  ask  me  to 
stay  with  him  in  Kamaran  till  we  could  return  together 
to  Hodeidah.  I  gladly  accepted  both  invitations,  bade 
farewell  to  Abdul  Wahid,  who  was  leaving  by  the  Egyptian 
ship  bound  for  Aden,  and  boarded  the  “  Magidie,”  not 
sorry  to  escape,  if  only  temporarily,  from  the  dirt  and 
discomfort  of  the  life  we  had  been  leading  in  Hodeidah. 


222  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


The  captain  of  this  ship,  like  all  sensible  people  who 
have  experienced  hardships  at  first  hand,  had  made  him¬ 
self  just  as  comfortable  as  he  possibly  could.  His  cook 
was  an  artist,  and  his  chief  steward,  in  the  matter  of 
compounding  cocktails,  had  nothing  to  learn  from  the 
most  experienced  American  barman.  In  the  captain’s 
opinion,  a  concoction  known  as  a  Virgin,  among  the 
numerous  ingredients  of  which  gin  supplies  the  leit 
motif,  is  the  most  satisfactory  thing  to  poison  one’s  self 
with  in  the  Red  Sea  ;  and  after  submitting  the  proposi¬ 
tion  to  the  test  of  numerous  experiments,  I  came  to  a  like 
conclusion. 

Dr.  G.  A.  Richardson,  the  Consul,  was  interested  and 
amused  by  my  account  of  our  adventures  in  Hodeidah. 
He  attached  little  importance  to  what  had  taken  place, 
for  the  course  of  events  might  have  been  foreseen.  Having 
spent  ten  years  in  Hodeidah,  and  possessing  a  unique 
knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  people,  he  could  fore¬ 
cast  to  a  nicety  what  a  Turkish  official  would  think  and 
do  in  almost  any  given  circumstances.  Nor  did  he  think 
that  it  would  be  difficult  to  induce  the  authorities  to  see 
reason,  once  we  had  disabused  them  of  the  “  spy  ”  idea. 

I  enjoyed  the  few  days  I  spent  on  board  very  much. 
Both  my  companions  were  raconteurs  of  a  calibre 
uncommon  even  in  the  Red  Sea,  where  most  people  who 
have  spent  any  time,  whether  ashore  or  afloat,  have  some¬ 
thing  to  relate  worth  the  telling.  At  Kamaran  we  parted 
with  much  regret  from  our  hospitable  host,  to  instal  our¬ 
selves  in  the  house  kept  for  the  reception  of  the  Consul 
on  his  visits  to  the  island. 

Kamaran,  erroneously  described  on  most  maps  as 
British,  is  an  island  about  forty  miles  north  of  Hodeidah, 
belonging  to  Turkey,  and  used  as  a  quarantine  station  for 
pilgrims  on  their  way  to  and  from  Mecca.  The  pilgrims 
are  segregated  in  enclosed  camps  on  one  side  of  the  island, 
and  kept  there  for  a  number  of  days  that  varies  with 
the  circumstances.  There  is  a  distillery  and  ice-making 
plant,  a  well-equipped  hospital,  and  a  number  of  houses 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  medical  staff. 

On  the  other  side  there  are  a  small  native  village  and 
a  few  date-palms  ;  but  otherwise  the  island  is  bare  and 
practically  devoid  of  vegetation.  The  administration 


HODEIDAH  223 

is  in  the  hands  of  the  international  quarantine  board, 
and  the  doctors  and  other  officials  are  very  cosmopolitan. 
At  the  time  of  our  visit  the  season  was  at  an  end,  all  the 
pilgrims  had  left  for  Mecca,  and  most  of  the  staff  had 
already  departed  on  leave  or  to  other  employment.  We 
messed  with  the  “  director,”  a  Russian,  and  an  Armenian 
architect  who  shared  his  house. 

We  spent  a  pleasant  week  here  in  spite  of  the  plague 
of  flies,  which  always  occurs  at  this  season,  when  the 
pilgrims  have  left  and  the  flies  desert  the  empty  camp 
to  collect  together  in  the  only  places  still  inhabited. 
There  were  more  flies  here  than  even  at  Yembu,  where, 
before  putting  a  piece  of  food  into  one’s  mouth,  it  is 
necessary  to  blow  on  it,  hard,  in  order  that  the  taste  of 
the  morsel  may  not  be  obscured  by  adventitious  foreign 
bodies. 

Apropos  of  this,  I  must  confess  here  to  two  highly 
heretical  opinions,  one  being  that  Pharaoh  is  the  finest 
character  in  history,  and  the  other  that  the  quarantine 
laws  regarding  pilgrims  are  absolutely  useless.  In  sup¬ 
port  of  the  second  of  these  extraordinary  views,  I  urge 
that  all  this  extravagant  expenditure  failed  to  prevent 
cholera  breaking  out  in  Mecca  in  1907-8,  and  spreading 
from  there  to  St.  Petersburg  ;  that  sporadic  cases  of 
plague  and  cholera  occur  at  Jiddah  with  almost  un¬ 
failing  regularity,  and  that,  if  the  truth  were  known,  both 
diseases  are  endemic  on  the  Arabian  coast. 

On  the  mainland,  opposite  Kamaran,  are  situated  the 
salt-mines  of  Saleef,  which  we  visited.  Several  Europeans 
are  employed  there,  and  the  manager  himself  is  an 
Englishman.  There  is  a  small  Turkish  garrison.  Most 
of  the  salt  goes  to  India. 

News  reached  us,  while  we  were  at  Kamaran,  of  the 
dismissal  of  the  Mutassarif.  We  never  heard  the  real 
reason  for  this,  but  it  probably  had  to  do  with  the  “  sam- 
book  affair.”  The  Consul  was  sorry,  for  he  had  found 
this  man  more  sensible  and  easier  to  deal  with  than  most 
of  those  who  had  held  that  post  during  the  decade  he  had 
spent  in  Hodeidah. 

We  had  a  rather  rough  time  going  down  the  coast. 
The  small  steamer  in  which  we  made  the  voyage  was  too 
short  for  the  sea.  November  is  the  season  of  the  strong 


224  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


south  wind  in  this  part  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  it  is  sur¬ 
prising  how  rough  it  can  be  at  times.  Well  to  the  west 
of  the  steam -lane  between  Suez  and  Aden,  there  is  a  long 
narrow  abyss  running  parallel  with  the  coast  where  the 
water  suddenly  deepens  by  a  thousand  fathoms  or  more. 
So  high  a  sea  runs  here  at  this  time  of  year  that  even 
large  steamers  have  to  “  tack  ”  across  to  avoid  bringing 
it  abeam. 

The  Consul’s  household  servants  had  not  arrived  when 
we  reached  Hodeidah,  so  we  messed  at  first  with  the 
Italian  Consul-General.  The  British  and  Italian  Con¬ 
sulates  are  in  one  block.  The  hero  of  the  sambook  affair 
was  kindness  and  hospitality  itself.  Conversant  with 
many  languages,  he  is  a  profound  Arabic  scholar,  with 
a  wide  knowledge  of  the  literature.  We  were  interested 
to  hear  his  candid  opinion  of  the  late  Mutassarif,  which 
coincided  with  my  own,  and  I  not  long  afterwards  found 
myself  in  entire  agreement  with  him  on  the  subject  of 
that  “  bad  man,”  as  he  called  him,  Mohammed  Ali 
Pasha,  Vali  of  the  Yemen. 

The  Consul  lost  no  time  in  tackling  the  local  authorities 
on  the  subject  of  my  proposed  journey,  and  asked  them, 
by  way  of  a  start,  what  they  meant  by  putting  it  about 
that  I  was  a  spy.  It  was  not  the  intention  of  our  benign 
Government,  so  he  expressed  it,  that  any  of  its  subjects 
should  be  taken  for  spies.  Of  course  it  was  denied  most 
emphatically  that  any  such  suspicion  had  so  much  as 
crossed  their  minds.  Their  only  desire  was  to  aid  me  in 
every  possible  way  ;  but  as  for  the  journey,  what  with 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  the  dangerous  roads, 
and  so  on,  it  was  not  desirable  that  foreign  subjects  should 
go  up  to  Sanaa. 

This  is  the  usual  formula,  and  means  nothing  as  a  rule. 
It  so  happened  that  the  Consul  had  just  come  across  a 
communique  to  the  press  by  the  Grand  Vizier,  to  the 
effect  that  perfect  peace  reigned  in  the  Yemen. 

However,  as  there  was  no  hurry,  we  agreed  to  wait  till 
after  the  festivities  which  take  place  at  the  time  of  the 
pilgrimage  had  been  concluded,  before  pushing  the  matter 
further. 

I  decided  to  go  to  Aden  for  a  few  days  to  get  some 
things  I  wanted,  a  servant  among  them.  I  wished,  also, 


HODEIDAH 


225 


to  make  inquiries  as  to  the  possibility  of  making  that 
place  my  starting-point,  in  case  I  failed  to  get  to  Sanaa. 

In  the  matter  of  a  servant  I  was  fortunate.  The  first 
man  I  asked  about  it  sent  his  own  boy  into  the  street  to 
look  for  one  ;  and  he  turned  up  presently  with  a  nice- 
looking  youth  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  whose  light 
colour  and  regular  features  showed  him  to  be  an  Arab  of 
a  stock  unusually  pure  for  Aden.  This  proved  to  be  the 
case,  for  his  father  was  not  an  “  Adame,”  but  the  “  terror 
of  a  small  Arabian  town  55  somewhere  up  country,  who 
spent  his  time,  when  no  serious  brigandage  was  on  hand, 
in  carrying  on  a  blood-feud  with  a  neighbouring  clan, 
the  origin  of  which  dated  back  for  several  centuries. 
For  many  generations  his  ancestors  had  followed  what  is, 
with  one  exception,  the  oldest  and  most  lucrative  of  all 
professions,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  Arabs,  quite  the  most 
respectable  ;  he  himself  was  the  first  to  debase  the  noble 
traditions  of  his  house  by  working  for  his  living.  Ahmad, 
for  that  was  his  name,  had  been  born  in  the  Aden  Pro¬ 
tectorate  ;  and  on  the  strength  of  this  I  claimed  British 
protection  for  him — a  lot  of  use  it  has  been  to  him  !  He 
had  served  as  scullery-boy  in  several  establishments  in 
Aden,  and  had  no  letters  of  recommendation  whatever, 
having  been  kicked  out  of  his  last  place,  so  he  told  me, 
for  quarrelling  with  the  other  servants.  He  looked  me 
however  squarely  in  the  face  with  eyes  that  betokened  both 
honesty  and  courage,  and  were  worth  more  to  him  as  a  re¬ 
commendation  than  many  “  chits.”  I  signed  him  on  at 
once,  and  we  returned  together. 

Once  more  back  in  Hodeidah,  I  found  it  the  general 
opinion  that  trouble  was  impending.  Several  people 
warned  me  not  to  go  up  to  Sanaa  even  should  the 
authorities  consent  to  assist  me.  The  latter,  however, 
continued  to  deny  that  anything  serious  was  wrong,  and 
these  rumours  of  war  are  so  incessant  in  a  place  like  the 
Yemen  that  one  soon  ceases  to  pay  attention  to  them. 
Nor  do  I  believe  that  the  Vali  and  the  other  officials 
really  anticipated  a  serious  outbreak  at  this  stage.  If 
they  did,  their  neglect  to  provision  their  garrisons  ade¬ 
quately  was  criminal. 

The  Consul  made  another  official  application  for  the 
escort  which  is  supposed  to  be  necessary,  and  is  certainly 

15 


226  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 

advisable.  He  put  the  case  strongly,  and  quoted  my 
offer  to  accept  entire  responsibility  and  give  an  under¬ 
taking  in  writing  that  no  compensation  should  be  claim¬ 
able  on  my  behalf  in  the  event  of  harm  befalling  me  any¬ 
where  in  the  Ottoman  territory.*  It  was  long  before  he 
succeeded  in  eliciting  a  reply,  and  when  he  did  it  was  not 
a  satisfactory  one.  Passing  over  all  our  arguments  un¬ 
noticed — a  style  of  correspondence  that  has  since  become 
familiar  to  me — “in  the  actual  situation,”  so  the  letter 
ran,  “  the  Ottoman  authorities  do  not  feel  justified  in 
assisting  foreigners  to  travel  to  Sanaa.”  This  letter 
reached  us  on  the  eve  of  the  Consul’s  departure  for  Aden, 
where  he  had  to  spend  some  days  on  business. 

Before  he  left  I  ascertained  from  him  how  the  law 
stood  on  the  subject.  Had  the  Turks  any  right  to  pre¬ 
vent  my  going  up  to  Sanaa  if  I  chose  to  do  so  without  an 
escort  ?  And  if  I  got  there,  could  they  legally  turn  me 
out  ?  The  answer  to  both  questions  was  in  the  nega¬ 
tive  ;  but  he  said  that  if  I  was  discovered  leaving  Hodei- 
dah  or  on  the  road,  I  should  certainly  be  sent  back. 

In  these  circumstances  I  decided  to  take  French 
leave.  Scarcely  had  the  Consul  departed,  before  a  con¬ 
spiracy  was  set  on  foot.  It  was  necessary  to  act  swiftly 
and  secretly,  for  so  far  from  the  suspicions  of  the  authori¬ 
ties  concerning  me  having  been  dispelled  by  the  assurances 
given,  they  seemed  to  have  actually  increased  ;  so  that 
not  only  was  the  Consulate  watched  day  and  night,  but 
the  house  of  the  dragoman  also.  With  the  aid  of  one 
or  two  confederates,  who  must  not  be  indicated  more 
particularly,  measures  were  concerted  adequate  to  the 
emergency.  I  sounded  Ahmad  on  the  subject,  warning 
him  that  we  were  about  to  do  a  thing  that  was  dangerous 
and  might  get  us  into  trouble,  and  that  if  he  decided  to 
come  he  must  obey  orders  without  question,  and  be  more 
silent  than  the  grave.  He  was  quite  ready  to  come, 
and,  stranger  still,  seemed  actually  to  like  the  prospect. 

I  was  seized  with  a  sudden  indisposition  which  pre¬ 
vented  my  leaving  the  house  for  the  three  days  following 
the  Consul’s  departure.  On  the  fourth  day,  Christmas 
Eve,  I  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  walk  out  to  the 

*  One  would  think  that  it  was  sufficiently  obvious  that  this  under¬ 
taking  did  not  refer  to  harm  at  the  hands  of  the  Turks  themselves. 


HODEIDAH 


227 


tennis  ground  wearing  canvas  shoes  and  carrying  a 
racket,  though  as  I  told  some  people  I  met  in  the  market 
I  was  not  sure  whether  I  was  well  enough  to  play.  I 
did  play,  however,  and  remained  longer  than  usual  at 
the  garden,  in  fact  it  was  nearly  dark  when  I  started 
to  walk  home.  This  imprudent  conduct  was  probably 
responsible  for  the  return  of  the  fever  from  which  I  had 
been  suffering,  and  by  which  I  was  again  confined  to 
my  bed  the  next  day,  at  least  so  the  police  thought  then, 
and  so  they  continued  to  think  till  the  morning  of  the 
day  that  Ahmad  and  I  rode  into  Sanaa,  having  performed 
the  journey  in  eighty-eight  hours,  which  is  nearly  a  record, 
I  believe,  for  donkeys.  I  refer  of  course  to  the  animals 
we  were  riding. 


CHAPTER  XII 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA 

The  rendezvous  was  at  the  house  of  our  confederate 
near  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  Ahmad  was  already 
there  when  I  arrived  :  the  donkeys,  which  had  been 
brought  there  the  previous  day  and  concealed  in  the 
courtyard,  were  already  saddled  up.  We  proceeded  to 
assume  the  disguise  of  Hedjazi  merchants,  in  which,  so 
my  fellow-conspirators  assured  me,  I  was  practically 
unrecognizable.  We  were  taking  a  guide  for  the  first 
stage,  as  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  rather  complicated 
detour  in  order  to  avoid  the  Turkish  outposts.  We 
carried  no  luggage  except  a  few  clothes  and  a  revolver 
apiece. 

The  moon  did  not  rise  till  two  a.m.,  so  we  decided  to 
wait  till  near  midnight  to  start,  when  things  were  quiet. 
As  luck  would  have  it,  the  night  was  very  dark — always  a 
good  thing  when  dark  deeds  are  in  contemplation. 

We  started  just  before  twelve  o’clock,  cantering  over 
the  sandy  ground  after  our  guide,  who  threaded  his  way 
through  the  dark  alley  ways  with  the  confidence  born  of 
a  lifetime’s  acquaintance  with  the  locality.  We  passed 
to  the  left  of  the  barracks,  well  out  of  earshot,  went 
through  a  cemetery,  traversed  some  rough  ground,  and 
struck  the  main  road  to  Sanaa  about  two  miles  from 
the  town.  Our  escape  from  Hodeidah  was  a  fait  accompli. 

We  were  now  riding  through  the  Tehama,  the  hot, 
sandy  plain  that  separates  the  lowest  spurs  of  the  moun¬ 
tains  from  the  seaboard.  It  is  preferable,  in  any  cir¬ 
cumstances,  to  perform  this  stage  of  the  journey  by 
night,  for  the  heat  and  glare  in  the  daytime,  even  during 
the  winter  months,  are  very  trying.  The  plain  is  level 
and  sandy,  practically  waterless,  and  barren  but  for 

228 


HQDEIDAH  TO  SANAA 


229 


sparse  and  stunted  mimosa  trees.  Most  of  the  rivers 
starting  seaward  from  the  Yemen  highlands  lose  them¬ 
selves  in  this  waste. 

The  road  we  were  following  was  by  no  means  deserted. 
We  constantly  met  strings  of  camels  bound  for  Hodeidah 
loaded  with  kat,  fodder,  and  other  produce  from  the 
highlands.  Others,  that  we  overtook,  had  come  in  the 
previous  night  and  were  now  on  the  return  journey,  and 
several  larger  caravans  with  escorts  were  on  their  way 
to  the  interior  with  supplies  for  the  troops  stationed 
there. 

An  Arab  can  sleep  on  his  camel  as  soundly  as  in  his 
bed.  He  curls  himself  up  on  top  of  the  bales  of  mer¬ 
chandise,  or  whatever  else  it  may  be,  and  slumbers 
peacefully  when  confident  that  the  camel  knows  the 
way.  Should  the  camel  he  is  riding,  which  is  always  the 
leader,  stray  off  the  road,  it  stops,  and  with  it  the  string 
behind,  tied  as  they  are,  nose  to  tail.  The  Arab  wakes 
up,  promptly  and  automatically,  abuses  the  camel  for 
its  stupidity,  guides  it  back  to  the  road  and  goes  to  sleep 
again. 

Many  people  have  noticed  how  much  easier  it  is  to  sit 
up  on  the  watch  than  to  ride  through  the  night  without 
getting  sleepy.  The  procession  of  trees,  rocks,  and  other 
objects  passing  one’s  eyes,  particularly  by  moonlight, 
produces  after  some  hours  a  sort  of  hypnotic  torpor, 
so  that  no  matter  how  necessary  vigilance  may  be,  it 
requires  the  strongest  effort  of  will  to  keep  awake.  As 
soon  as  it  becomes  light  enough  to  see  clearly,  the  over¬ 
whelming  desire  to  sleep  disappears,  and  the  rider’s 
faculties  return  to  him,  for  to  whatever  cause  the  state 
I  am  describing  may  be  due,  it  is  certainly  not  to  fatigue. 

When  the  dawn  broke  we  found  that  we  were  leaving 
the  plain  and  entering  among  scattered,  stony  hills. 
Before  sunrise  we  made  another  detour  to  avoid  the 
town  of  Bagil,  which  we  judged  it  prudent  not  to  enter 
in  case  the  garrison  might  have  been  warned  to  intercept 
us.  At  about  nine  o’clock  we  off-saddled  at  a  small 
cafe  by  the  roadside  to  partake  of  food  and  enjoy  a  short 
sleep.  We  were  now  about  thirty  miles  from  Hodeidah. 

By  midday  we  were  again  on  the  road,  riding  up  a 
wide  valley,  perhaps  ten  miles  across,  flanked  by  lofty 


230  A  MODERN  PILCxRIM  IN  MECCA 


mountain  ranges.  Evidences  of  cultivation  began  to 
appear,  though  there  was  little  actually  growing  at  this 
time  of  year.  Near  sundown  we  crossed  two  rivers  of 
real  running  water — the  first  I  had  ever  seen  in  Arabia. 
We  halted  for  the  night  at  the  village  of  Hageilah,  situated 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountains. 

Here  we  bade  farewell  to  the  guide  who  had  accom¬ 
panied  us  thus  far.  He  had  performed  his  part  of  the 
contract  most  efficiently,  and  I  rewarded  him  accordingly. 
He  was  actuated,  so  he  told  me,  less  by  the  hope  of  gain 
than  by  his  desire  to  score  off  the  Hodeidah  police.  He 
advised  us  to  enter  the  town  of  Menakha  after  dark, 
and  leave  before  daybreak,  and  to  keep  our  eyes  open 
between  that  place  and  Sook-el-Khamis,  for  on  that  section 
of  the  road  an  attack  by  brigands  was  to  be  apprehended. 

Ahmad  and  I  excited  no  curiosity  at  Hageilah.  I  told 
a  Turkish  officer  who  asked  who  we  were  that  I  came 
from  Jiddah,  and  was  going  up  to  Sanaa  to  sell  turquoises. 

We  left  before  sunrise,  hurried  forward  by  a  keen 
anxiety,  for  we  knew  that  there  is  some  limit  to  the 
stupidity  of  the  police  even  in  Turkey,  and  that  the 
laugh  would  not  be  on  our  side  till  we  had  ridden  through 
the  gate  of  Sanaa. 

Soon  after  leaving  Hageilah  we  passed  through  a 
curious  natural  tunnel  called  the  “Gate  of  the  Moun¬ 
tains.”  Thenceforward  we  were  climbing.  The  road 
zigzagged  upwards  till  it  gained  the  crest  of  a  great 
spur  shot  out  from  the  main  range,  which  was  now  before 
us.  To  the  right  lay  a  great  valley,  steep-sided  and 
profound  ;  to  the  left  high  and  precipitous  mountains 
towered  upwards  to  the  cloud-line.  Trees,  running 
water,  and  patches  of  vivid  green  cultivation  refreshed 
our  gaze.  It  seemed  incredible  that  this  could  be  Arabia. 
We  soon  passed  the  first  coffee  groves,  for  the  tree  grows 
here  also,  though  the  more  important  plantations  are 
farther  south.  The  cultivation  is  carried  out  in  terraces, 
revetted  with  stone,  after  the  manner  of  the  Maritime 
Alps. 

As  we  advanced  the  grandeur  of  the  scene  increased. 
We  seemed  to  be  making  for  a  nek,  still  far  above  us, 
between  two  conical  peaks.  The  first  villages  appeared, 
and  very  different  were  they  from  the  groups  of  mud 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA 


231 


and  wattle  thatched-roof  hovels  of  the  Tehama.  Narrow 
stone-built  houses  and  towers,  four  or  five  stories  in 
height,  sometimes  more,  are  packed  together  so  closely 
that  a  respectable-sized  hamlet  looks  like  a  single  build¬ 
ing.  Their  sites  seem  to  be  chosen  solely  with  a 
view  to  their  defensibility.  Crowning  rocky  peaks, 
poised  on  the  edge  of  precipices,  and  sometimes  even 
on  isolated  boulders,  they  lend  to  the  scene  an  air 
at  once  distinctive  and  menacing.  Sound  travels  a  great 
distance  among  these  mountains.  In  the  warm,  still 
air  of  the  morning  we  heard  the  villagers  calling  to  one 
another  from  slope  to  slope  over  a  mile  or  more  of  space. 

We  halted  at  midday  for  a  couple  of  hours,  then 
pushed  forward  again.  The  road  was  bad  everywhere, 
and  even  perilous  in  parts — quite  impassable  for  wheeled 
traffic  except  horse-artillery  guns.  It  began  to  get 
chilly  as  we  ascended.  We  gained  the  crest  of  the  ridge 
among  the  clouds  just  before  sundown.  The  thick 
mist  prevented  my  being  able  to  observe  this  cele¬ 
brated  position,  the  “  Lang’s  Nek  ”  of  the  Yemen, 
as  closely  as  I  should  have  liked  ;  for  we  were  com¬ 
pelled  to  make  a  halt  here,  as  Menakha  was  less 
than  an  hour’s  ride  forward,  and  it  was  not  yet  dark.  We 
rather  overdid  it  in  the  end,  for  before  we  reached  the 
town  it  was  impossible  in  the  darkness  and  fog  to  see 
one’s  hand  before  one’s  face,  and  as  the  road  at  this 
point  is  cut  out  of  the  side  of  a  slope  that  only  just  misses 
being  a  precipice,  it  was  not  very  pleasant  riding  along 
it  in  these  conditions.  That  we  were  nearing  a  centre 
of  population  was  evident  from  the  sounds  of  human 
habitation ;  barking  of  dogs,  shrill  cries  of  children, 
and  voices  that  seemed  to  reach  us  sometimes  from 
overhead,  and  sometimes  from  far  below.  Yet  it  took  us 
a  long  time  to  reach  our  destination,  and  it  was  nearly 
eight  o’clock  when  we  at  last  entered  Menakha.  We 
were  now  about  half-way  to  Sanaa,  and  more  than 
7,000  feet  above  sea-level.  It  was  colder  than  charity. 

We  had  been  warned  not  to  go  to  the  public  inn — 
“  The  Casino,”  as  the  Turks  will  persist  in  calling  these 
places.  The  donkey  boy  had  instructions  to  take  us  to 
a  certain  house,  which,  however,  proved  to  be  full  up. 
We  were  recommended  to  another,  which  we  tried  with 


232  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


no  better  success,  and  then  decided  to  chuck  it  and  chance 
the  inn.  For  one  thing,  Menakha  is  not  a  pleasant  place 
in  which  to  wander  about  in  the  dark.  It  is  built  on  a  rock, 
and  the  streets,  which  resemble  badly  constructed  stair¬ 
cases  more  than  anything  else,  have  a  way  of  ending 
unexpectedly  in  a  sheer  drop  of  twenty  feet  or  so.  As  it 
was  one  of  the  donkeys  and  its  rider  took  a  nasty  toss. 

We  need  not  have  bothered,  for  no  one  else  was  staying 
at  “  The  Casino.”  We  had  in  fact  some  difficulty  in 
finding  the  proprietor.  When  he  came  we  were  intro¬ 
duced  to  the  only  furnished  guest-chamber,  a  tiny  room 
on  the  second  floor,  quite  air-tight,  containing  the  re¬ 
mains  of  a  carpet  and  a  couple  of  dirty  mattresses,  and 
fairly  alive  with  fleas.  When  I  made  the  usual  inquiries 
concerning  the  sanitary  arrangements,  the  proprietor 
said  there  weren’t  any  ;  but  that  the  unoccupied  rooms 
might  be  used  for  any  purpose  whatsoever.  Nothing  in 
the  way  of  food  was  obtainable  at  this  hour,  but  if  we 
would  only  be  patient,  said  our  host,  his  son  would  bring 
us  some  tea. 

I  had  with  me  some  boiled  eggs  and  plum  pudding, 
on  which  we  dined  ;  then,  with  a  blanket  apiece,  and  the 
spare  clothes  I  had  brought  divided  between  us,  we 
passed  the  night,  if  not  in  comfort,  at  any  rate  in  com¬ 
parative  warmth.  The  donkey  boy  slept  with  his  animals 
in  the  stable,  and  took  this  opportunity  to  fuddle  himself 
with  hashish,  to  my  great  annoyance,  as  we  were  late  in 
starting  the  next  morning  in  consequence. 

We  were  not  fairly  under  way  till  near  sunrise.  It 
was  a  bright,  still  morning,  and  a  hard  frost.  We  ran 
for  the  first  mile  or  so,  partly  to  get  as  far  as  possible 
from  Menakha  before  they  began  to  wake  up  there,  and 
partly  to  get  warm.  So  rough  in  surface  and  steep  is  the 
road,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  ride  over  it  at  any 
pace.  We  were  descending  the  side  of  a  magnificent 
ravine,  which  opened  out  about  4,000  feet  below  into  a 
desolate-looking  country  of  rugged  foot-hills,  beyond 
which  rose  again  the  imposing  mass  of  the  main  range. 
Our  destination  that  day,  Sook-el-Khamis,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Menakha,  was  visible  at  starting.  It  took 
us  over  three  hours  to  reach  the  foot  of  the  spur,  but 
crossing  the  valley  it  was  better  going.  The  aspect  of  this 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA 


233 


parched  scrub-covered  country  recalls  the  bush  veld  of 
South  Africa.  It  is  dry  and  deserted  at  the  present  time,  but 
the  soil  is  probably  not  unfertile,  and  with  irrigation  some¬ 
thing  might  be  made  of  it,  for  it  must  enjoy  a  good  rainfall. 

We  passed  small  military  posts  every  few  miles. 
These  are  generally  placed  on  hills  some  little  distance 
off  the  road,  which  they  are  supposed  to  protect.  The 
Turks  hold  the  mistaken  view  that  the  best  position  for 
a  work  is  invariably  the  most  commanding  position,  and 
the  value  of  barbed  wire  for  defensive  purposes  is  not 
appreciated  by  them. 

This  was  the  part  of  the  road  that  we  had  been  told 
was  dangerous,  and  indeed  the  country  looked  wild 
enough.  It  was  just  the  sort  of  place  where  one  would 
expect  to  meet  brigands.  None,  however,  appeared, 
rather  I  think  to  the  disappointment  of  Ahmad,  who 
was  carrying  a  real  firearm  for  the  first  time  in  his  life, 
and  looking  forward  to  an  opportunity  for  using  it. 

By  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  we  had  left  this 
sterile  valley  behind  us,  and  were  ascending  the  fertile 
slopes  of  the  great  plateau  above.  Before  sundown  we 
had  entered  Sook-el-Khamis,  “  Thursday’s  Market,”  and 
installed  ourselves  in  the  caravanserai  kept  for  the  use 
of  travellers.  It  is  practically  the  only  building  in  the 
place  not  occupied  by  the  soldiers.  This  place  is,  I 
believe,  the  headquarters  of  the  regiment  holding  the 
road  between  here  and  Menakha.  There  was  a  garrison, 
at  this  time,  of  two  or  three  companies  of  infantry, 
and  a  few  guns. 

These  rest-houses,  “sim  sarahs”  as  they  call  them  locally, 
“  Khans  ”  elsewhere  in  the  East,  are  seldom  pleasant 
places  to  spend  the  night,  but  this  particular  one,  at  Sook- 
el-Khamis,  is  notorious  even  in  the  Yemen  for  its  fleas. 
European  travellers  and  well-to-do  Turks  generally  carry 
their  own  tents,  and  give  these  places  a  wide  berth.  We, 
however,  had  no  choice,  and  were  fortunate  in  having 
the  only  room  to  ourselves.  Ahmad  brought  in  a  bowl  of 
sour  milk,  which  he  put  down  on  the  floor  ;  five  minutes 
later  its  surface  was  black  with  fleas.  Tired  as  we  were,  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  get  any  sleep.  The  Arabs  usually 
carry  a  sort  of  sleeping  bag  made  of  sheepskin,  into  which 
they  get  head  first,  and  then  fasten  up  the  mouth  with 


234  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


a  piece  of  rope.  This  unhygienic  method  does  to  some 
extent  protect  one  from  the  vermin. 

The  donkey  boy  came  while  we  were  eating  our  supper 
to  say  that  it  was  impossible  to  go  on  the  next  morning. 
The  donkeys  were  worn  out,  and  if  we  tried  to  reach 
Sanaa  on  the  morrow  one  at  least  would  fall  down  dead 
before  we  got  there.  Moreover,  the  road  ahead  of  us 
was  in  a  very  dangerous  state,  the  children  of  the  Imam 
were  “  sniping  ”  beyond  Senam  Pasha,  and  it  was 
no  longer  possible  to  travel  except  in  large  parties. 
He  wanted  to  wait  for  the  mail,  which  was  expected  the 
next  day,  and  which,  even  in  peace  time,  has  a  good 
escort.  I  told  him  that  we  would  ride  forward  till  all 
the  donkeys  were  dead  and  then  walk,  and  that  if  all  the 
children  of  Iblis  the  damned  were  on  the  road  we  must 
still  go  through  the  next  day,  and  that  if  he  smoked  any 
more  hashish  before  we  got  to  Sanaa  I  would  break 
every  bone  in  his  misbegotten  body.  With  mingled 
threats  and  promises  we  brought  him  to  his  senses,  and 
started  in  the  dark  for  the  last  stage  of  the  journey. 
Had  I  given  way  the  adventure  would  have  ended  here, 
for  by  noon  the  following  day  the  murder  was  out. 

For  an  hour  or  so  we  stumbled  forward  in  the  dark 
before  a  very  beautiful  dawn  and  sunrise  revealed  the 
magnificent  panorama  before  us.  We  were  now  at  an 
altitude  nearly  as  great  as  that  of  Menakha,  the  cold 
was  extreme,  and  a  thick  mist  arose  with  the  sun.  About 
eight  o’clock  we  crossed  a  swiftly  running  river,  and  by 
noon  we  had  passed  the  fortified  station  known  to  the 
Turks  as  Senam  Pasha,  and  to  the  Arabs  as  Matinah. 
The  scenery  of  the  plateau  which  we  had  now  reached 
was  very  different  from  what  had  gone  before.  The 
country  was  open  and  undulating,  with  groups  of  stony 
kopjes  here  and  there,  in  place  of  the  mountains  we 
had  left  behind.  Little  was  to  be  seen  growing  at  this 
season,  but  the  extensive  areas  of  stubble  attested  the 
fertility  of  the  ground.  Many  villages,  some  of  con¬ 
siderable  size,  were  to  be  seen  from  the  road,  which  was 
now  crowded  with  travellers  both  mounted  and  afoot, 
as  well  as  with  beasts  of  burden  laden  with  produce  of 
various  kinds.  We  passed  several  parties  of  soldiers 
working  on  the  road,  one  or  two  of  whom  were  Syrians 


I10DEIDAH  TO  SANAA 


235 


and  ran  up,  thinking  from  the  “  akal  ”  I  was  wearing 
that  I  might  be  a  fellow-countryman.  For  some  reason 
or  other  the  Government  has  expended  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  and  money  on  this  part  of  the  road,  where,  the 
country  being  more  or  less  level,  there  was  little  occasion 
for  it  ;  while  neglecting  altogether  the  mountainous  part, 
where  the  track  is  positively  dangerous. 

We  were  now  nearly  at  the  end  of  the  journey,  and  it 
was  as  well,  for  our  poor  donkeys  were  almost  done.  We 
had  spared  them  all  we  could  by  walking  and  leading, 
but  the  pace  had  been  too  hot,  and  but  for  the  fact  that 
neither  Ahmad  nor  myself  can  scale  nine  stone,  we 
should  never  have  got  here  at  this  pace  without  the  change 
of  mounts,  for  which  it  was  not,  in  the  circumstances, 
possible  to  arrange. 

At  last  we  passed  over  a  col  and  there,  about  1,000 
feet  below  us,  in  a  wide  Valley,  lay  the  city  of  Sanaa. 
We  halted  for  a  few  minutes  to  rest  and  enjoy  the  view. 
The  valley,  I  observed,  ran  approximately  north  and 
south,  and  though  devoid  of  natural  vegetation,  was 
extensively  cultivated.  Sanaa  itself  seemed  to  me  about 
the  size  of  Medina,  which  it  somewhat  resembles,  but 
the  walled  city  was  connected  by  an  almost  continuous 
chain  of  houses  and  gardens  with  another  town  as  large  as, 
if  not  larger  than,  Sanaa  itself.  This,  I  was  told,  was 
Raudha,  and  a  lofty  mountain  behind  Sanaa,  crowned 
by  a  fort,  was  the  celebrated  “  Gebel  Nugoom.”  Two 
Arab  merchants,  natives  of  Sanaa,  who  had  ridden 
with  us  for  the  last  few  miles,  took  great  pleasure  in 
pointing  out  the  beauties  of  the  scene.  Their  pride  in 
it  was  quite  touching.  Sanaa  they  told  me  was  well 
known  to  be  the  largest,  the  best  situated,  and  the  most 
beautiful  city  in  the  world.  For  salubrity  of  climate, 
abundance  and  purity  of  water,  and  fertility,  no  other 
spot  on  earth  could  justly  be  compared  with  the  valley 
that  lay  before  us.  They  would  evidently  have  been 
greatly  disappointed  had  I  failed  to  appreciate  it,  but, 
though  forced  to  admit  that  in  the  course  of  my  travels 
I  had  encountered  cities  even  larger  than  Sanaa,  I  was 
able  to  say  quite  honestly  that  I  had  never  seen 
one  more  beautifully  situated  or  more  picturesque  in 
itself. 


236  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


We  had  to  push  on,  however,  for  it  was  past  three 
o’clock,  and  we  were  a  good  two  hours’  ride  from  the  gate, 
which  was  closed  at  sundown.  Were  we  to  arrive  late 
we  should  have  to  sleep  at  a  “  simsarah  ”  without,  which 
would  be  undesirable  for  several  reasons. 

Our  donkeys,  now  that  the  goal  was  in  sight,  took  heart 
anew  ;  soon  we  had  descended  the  mountain  and  were 
cantering  over  the  plain,  and  a  few  minutes  after  five 
o’clock  we  were  through  the  gate.  As  Ahmad  remarked 
in  his  disrespectful  way,  “  we  had  laughed  in  the  governor’s 
beard.” 

Every  one  entering  the  city  of  Sanaa  by  any  gate  is 
compelled  to  give  an  account  of  himself  to  the  police 
officer  stationed  there.  “  Your  Excellency’s  name  ?  ” 
inquired  that  official  with  the  impartial  politeness  that 
in  the  Turkish  character  covers  a  multitude  of  sins.  I 
told  him.  “Not  the  Englishman?”  “Yes,”  said  I. 
This  information  was  received  by  the  policeman  and  a 
group  of  officers  who  were  listening  with  some  hilarity. 
Our  two  Sanaa  friends,  who,  much  intrigued,  begged 
enlightenment,  were  likewise  entertained.  The  Arab 
is  very  much  like  the  Irishman  in  some  ways  :  he  dearly 
loves  a  row  and  is  always  “  agin  the  Government.” 

I  heard  afterwards  that  the  Hodeidah  police  had  only 
become  suspicious  that  very  morning  :  they  wired  to 
Sanaa,  and  orders  were  sent  to  all  the  posts  to  intercept 
us,  which,  thanks  to  the  endurance  of  our  plucky  little 
donkeys,  arrived  too  late. 

I  had  with  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  only 
European  in  Sanaa,  Signor  Caprotti,  an  Italian.  I  lost 
no  time  in  presenting  this.  The  Chevalier,  when  he  had 
read  it  and  inquired  the  circumstances  of  my  arrival, 
made  no  secret  of  his  consternation.  It  was  most 
emphatically  his  opinion  that  there  would  be  trouble  over 
the  business.  This  consideration,  however,  did  not 
deter  him  from  extending  the  heartiest  welcome  to  a 
guest  whom  many  people  in  the  circumstances  might 
very  excusably  have  declined  to  entertain.  Installed 
in  his  house,  I  sent  off  the  donkey  boy  to  seek  quarters 
in  a  simsarah,  rewarding  him  liberally — with  something 
extra  to  ensure  that  the  donkeys  were  well  fed  during  the 
few  days  they  were  to  rest  before  returning,  and  a  promise 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA  237 

to  send  Ahmad  round  daily  to  see  that  this  fund  was  not 
misappropriated. 

The  Chevalier  Caprotti  and  his  brother  established  them¬ 
selves  in  Sanaa  in  1888,  but  the  latter,  unhappily,  had  died 
of  typhus  some  years  before  my  visit.  The  Turks,  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  their  principles,  had  at  one  time  made  every 
effort  to  get  rid  of  him,  but  the  Italian  Government,  which 
has  ideas  of  its  own  regarding  these  matters,  had  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  all  representations  on  the  subject,  and  there 
he  remained.  The  Ottoman  authorities,  who  accepted 
him  at  first  as  a  necessary  incubus,  were  later  glad  to 
make  use  of  his  knowledge  and  tact  in  dealing  with  the 
Arabs  to  conduct  for  them  certain  delicate  negotiations 
in  which  their  own  diplomacy  had  failed.  He  had  been 
through  all  the  troubles,  and  had  stood  two  sieges  already, 
in  the  last  of  which  his  wise  foresight  had  enabled  him, 
by  laying  in  an  enormous  stock  of  provisions,  to  save 
many  poor  people  from  starvation,  when  the  rich  Turks 
and  Arabs  would  do  nothing  to  help  them.  His  charitable 
conduct  did  not  pass  unappreciated,  for  when  the  Imam’s 
levies  entered  the  town  his  property  was  respected,  and 
he  himself  honourably  treated.  Engaged  in  commerce, 
he  has  yet  found  time  to  devote  himself  to  other  pursuits, 
and  Western  science  owes  more  to  his  energy  in  the 
matter  of  collecting  and  transmitting  copies  of  inscrip¬ 
tions,  works  of  art,  and  objects  of  archaeological  interest, 
than  to  the  labours  of  any  individual  explorer.  Few 
European  travellers  to  Sanaa  during  the  last  thirty  years 
have  not  had  occasion  in  recounting  their  experiences 
to  pay  a  tribute  to  his  kindness  and  hospitality. 

A  bath  and  a  good  dinner  make  a  wonderful  difference 
sometimes  ;  and  on  this  occasion  I  was  much  in  need  of 
both.  As  we  did  not  get  on  well  in  Arabic,  for  I  found 
the  Sanaa  dialect  difficult  to  understand,  we  conversed 
in  French.  The  Chevalier  advised  me  to  take  and 
furnish  a  house  of  my  own  as  soon  as  might  be.  In  his 
opinion  a  revolt  on  a  larger  scale  than  any  that  had  pre¬ 
ceded  it  was  impending,  though  he  did  not  think  Sanaa 
itself  would  be  invested  again  :  in  which,  however,  he 
proved  to  be  wrong. 

I  lost  no  time  in  following  his  advice.  Furnished 
houses  being  unobtainable,  I  was  forced  to  furnish  one 


288  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


for  myself.  The  house  I  chose  was  situated  at  the  end 
of  the  town  near  the  citadel  :  it  consisted  of  a  porch,  with 
one  room  over  it,  leading  into  a  rectangular  courtyard 
which  contained  the  kitchen  and  was  enclosed  on  two 
sides  by  a  wall,  the  third  side  being  the  porch,  and  the 
fourth  the  house  itself,  which  had  three  stories  and  a  flat 
roof.  Furnishing  in  Arab  style  is  not  a  very  formidable 
business.  It  is  merely  necessary  to  cover  the  low  terraces 
built  out  from  the  walls  with  mattresses  and  cushions  ; 
to  cover  the  floors  with  plenty  of  carpets  ;  to  put  up 
curtains  for  the  windows,  and  put  about  a  few  small 
tables  for  ash-trays,  coffee  cups,  and  so  on.  The  bed¬ 
room  furniture  is  still  more  simple.  Carpets,  a  mattress, 
and  a  pile  of  cushions  are  required,  but  most  Arabs  sleep 
in  the  living  rooms.  I  decided  to  furnish  three  rooms, 
two  for  myself,  and  one — that  over  the  porch — to  serve 
as  a  guest-chamber  :  for  I  hoped  later  on  to  entertain 
Arabs  from  the  Eastern  country  and  others  who  might 
come  to  Sanaa  from  the  parts  I  wished  to  reach.  The 
whole  of  the  furniture,  crockery,  cooking  utensils  and 
so  forth  came  to  about  £40.  The  carpets  are  the  ex¬ 
pensive  part.  I  had  to  pay  about  £1  per  month  in  rent 
for  the  house  ;  this  was  far  too  much,  but  I  did  not 
complain,  for  the  stranger,  especially  the  stranger  who 
wants  things  in  a  hurry,  must  expect  to  pay.  Within 
a  week  of  my  arrival  in  Sanaa  I  was  able  to  move  in. 
At  Signor  Caprotti’s  suggestion  I  engaged  two  more 
servants,  one  of  them,  an  Abyssinian,  as  cook,  the  other, 
an  Arab  of  Sanaa,  for  household  work.  I  deemed  it 
advisable  to  engage  one  native  owing  to  Ahmad  being 
almost  as  much  a  stranger  as  myself  to  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Zaidies.  Both  these  men  had  been 
in  the  service  of  Burchardt,  the  German  traveller  who, 
together  with  the  Italian  Vice-Consul,  was  killed  in  the 
Yemen  in  1908.  They  seem  to  have  fallen  victims  to  an 
ambuscade  of  brigands  whose  only  motive  was  the  hope 
of  plunder.  So  far  as  is  known,  the  murder  was  not  due 
to  fanaticism  or  anti-foreign  feeling.  “  The  Napani,” 
as  my  servant  the  Sanaa  Arab  was  called,  was  with  them 
at  the  time,  and  gave  me  an  account  of  the  incident 
which  did  not  tally  with  the  official  version  :  several 
Turks  with  whom  I  talked  did  not  scruple  to  suggest  that 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA  239 

he  had  a  hand  in  the  business  himself.  The  affair  gave 
rise  to  much  trouble  and  some  friction  between  the 
Governments  concerned,  though  the  Turkish  authorities 
could  not  fairly  be  held  in  any  way  responsible  for  it. 
The  roads  throughout  the  whole  country  are  very  danger¬ 
ous,  and  while  the  disturbed  state  of  affairs  continues 
it  is  impossible  to  police  them  properly.  Signor  Caprotti 
was  attacked  on  one  occasion  while  on  his  way  to  Hodei- 
dah  :  his  servant  was  killed,  his  mule  was  shot  under  him, 
and  he  himself,  lying  on  the  ground,  was  shot  at  by  a 
brigand  from  a  distance  of  ten  yards.  Those  who  know 
Signor  Caprotti  will  agree  with  him  that  his  escape  on 
this  occasion  was  little  short  of  miraculous.  His  assailant 
must  have  been  the  worst  shot  in  Arabia. 

The  death  of  Burchardt  was  all  the  more  deplorable 
for  the  fact  that  he  was  a  careful  and  scientific  traveller 
who  would  probably,  had  he  lived,  have  added  much 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  Yemen  and  what  lies  beyond. 
He  was  engaged  at  the  time  in  writing  a  book  on  the 
Sanaa  dialect  and  its  affinities,  and  he  had  in  the  course 
of  his  travels  taken  many  excellent  photographs  of  this 
picturesque  and  interesting  country. 

My  first  fortnight  in  Sanaa  passed  uneventfully. 
Signor  Caprotti  warned  me  that,  while  the  Arabs  were 
somewhat  doubtful  and  suspicious  concerning  me,  the 
Turks  professed  no  two  opinions  :  I  was  there  as  an 
agent  of  the  British  Government,  and  my  purpose  was 
espionage  pure  and  simple.  Nevertheless,  the  days 
passed  and  no  communication  reached  me  from  the 
authorities.  The  fact  was  that  there  was  nothing  for 
them  to  say,  for  though  the  right  of  the  Ottoman 
Government  to  prevent  a  foreigner  travelling  to  any 
place  may  be  conceded  in  practice,  it  is,  under  the 
capitulations,  an  extremely  difficult  matter  to  secure  his 
deportation  once  he  has  got  there. 

It  was,  of  course,  very  unfortunate  that  they  should 
have  this  idea,  but  I  hoped  to  live  it  down.  As  regards 
the  Arabs  I  endeavoured,  by  expending  a  little  money 
in  charity,  and  by  other  means,  to  allay  their  hostility, 
while  I  trusted  to  the  Consul’s  diplomacy  to  put  the 
matter  right  with  the  authorities  when  he  returned  from 
Aden  and  discovered  the  little  joke  I  had  been  compelled 


240  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


to  play  on  them.  I  was  in  the  habit,  in  pursuit  of  the 
first  object,  of  attending  the  evening  prayer  at  the  great 
mosque,  and  it  certainly  came  rather  as  a  shock  when 
I  received  urgent  warnings  from  two  quite  independent 
sources,  one  of  them  beyond  question  reliable,  not  to  go 
there  again  because  the  Turks  had  hired  a  man 
to  assassinate  me.*  The  deed  accomplished,  the  mur¬ 
derer  was  to  escape,  and  the  crime  to  be  attributed  to 
religious  fanaticism  ;  which  would  serve  the  double 
purpose  of  getting  rid  of  me  and  giving  the  Ottoman 
authorities  an  excuse  for  objecting  to  any  more  Europeans 
coming  up  to  Sanaa.  I  do  not  insinuate  that  the  Vali 
was  cognisant  of  or  responsible  for  this  ingenious  if 
dirty  trick,  but  I  believe  I  know  who  was.  They  manage 
these  things  unofficially  in  Turkey,  but  notwithstanding 
my  opinion  of  Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  I  do  not  think  he 
would  associate  himself  with  knavery  of  this  sort,  and 
had  he  known  of  the  design  would  have  vetoed  it  at  once. 
It  will  seem  odd  to  some  of  my  readers  that  I  should 
have  been  able  so  easily  to  avoid  the  trap,  assuming 
that  it  actually  existed.  This  fact  will  not  surprise 
those  who  have  experience  of  Turkish  methods  and 
Arab  character.  Plots  of  this  kind  are  generally  betrayed. 
There  are  so  many  undercurrents  of  conflicting  interests, 
of  friendship  and  enmity,  of  fear  and  greed,  that  when 
half-a-dozen  people  are  aware  of  an  intention  with  regard 
to  some  one  else,  the  betting  is  odds  on  that  one  of  the  six 
will  consider  that  he  best  serves  his  own  interests  by  inform¬ 
ing  the  object  of  the  intention  of  its  existence  and  nature. 
It  is  the  fear  of  things  like  this  that  is  in  part  responsible 
for  the  peculiar  system  of  domestic  espionage  that  is 
found  in  Turkey.  I  mean  the  way  in  which  officials  and 
even  private  individuals  employ  spies  to  find  out  what 
is  being  said  about  them,  what  their  enemies  are  doing, 
and  so  forth.  I  used  to  think  this  a  great  waste  of 
money,  but  now  I  am  not  so  sure.  We  who  live  in 
civilized  countries  regard  the  idea  of  plotting  deliberately 
to  injure  or  destroy  an  enemy  as  something  quite  outside 
the  common  experience  of  life.  We  regard  such  cases 

*  I  merely  state  what  actually  occurred,  and  cannot  prove  this 
without  giving  away  my  informants  ;  therefore  I  have  not  referred 
to  the  incident  in  the  course  of  official  correspondence. 


241 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA 

as  pertaining  solely  to  the  criminal  courts,  and  some 
people  will  argue  that  the  lunatic  asylum  rather  than 
the  prison  is  the  proper  place  for  the  people  who  do  these 
things.  They  have  not  come  to  that  yet  in  the  East. 
A  good  man  will  not  employ  such  methods,  and  regards 
with  the  utmost  reprobation  those  who  do  ;  but  still 
the  idea  of  using  the  assassin’s  dagger  to  avenge  a  private 
wrong,  or  remove  an  obstacle  to  success,  is  not  to  him  un¬ 
thinkable.  The  incident  served  to  enlighten  me  as  to 
the  serious  nature  of  my  position,  of  which,  despite  con¬ 
stant  warnings,  I  had  been  disposed  to  make  light. 

In  order  to  learn  the  Sanaa  dialect,  which  differs  much 
from  any  with  which  I  was  then  acquainted,  I  engaged 
a  certain  Sheikh  Ahmad  to  go  about  with  me.  This 
man,  though  a  schoolmaster,  scribe,*  and  Imam  of  a 
mosque,  was  surprisingly  ignorant  of  classical  Arabic 
and  most  other  things.  He  could  not  read  a  book  I 
had  brought  with  me,  written  by  a  compatriot  of  his 
own  in  the  seventeenth  century.  He  had  never  heard 
of  the  Wahabi  movement.  Concerning  the  geography 
of  the  rest  of  Arabia,  the  extent  and  progress  of  Islam, 
and  other  questions  which  it  might  have  been  supposed 
would  have  been  in  his  line,  he  knew  next  to  nothing  ; 
while  concerning  other  matters  of  more  general  interest, 
nothing  at  all.  Nor  was  he  in  any  way  peculiar  in  this 
respect,  for  the  other  citizens  of  Sanaa  with  whom  I  found 
opportunity  to  converse  were  as  bad  or  worse.  It  is 
most  difficult  to  reconcile  the  decadent  state  of  the 
present-day  Arabs  with  their  wonderful  achievements 
in  the  past. 

So  far  as  Sanaa  itself  was  concerned,  I  found  Sheikh 
Ahmad  an  excellent  guide.  We  visited  together  the 
points  of  principal  interest  and  saw,  I  think,  pretty  well 
all  there  is  to  be  seen.  The  town  is  divided  into  three 
parts  :  the  old  Arab  town,  which  contains  the  residences 
of  the  principal  Arabs,  the  shops,  and  the  Government 
buildings  ;  Bir-el-Azab,  a  suburb  lying  adjacent  to  the 
west,  which  is  the  residential  quarter  ;  and  west  of  this 
again  Kaa-el-Yahood,  the  Ghetto.  The  town  wall  has 

*  Still  a  common  profession  in  the  East,  where  the  bulk  of  the  popu¬ 
lation  is  illiterate.  They  write  letters  from  dictation,  and  read  them  to 
the  recipients. 

16 


242  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


been  extended  in  modern  times  to  include  all  three 
divisions,  and  at  the  present  day  has  a  perimeter  of 
about  twelve  kilometres.  The  ancient  wall,  that  is  the 
one  encircling  old  Sanaa,  is  a  formidable  work,  built  of 
clay  bricks  revetted  with  stone,  some  forty  feet  high  in 
places,  and  of  nearly  that  thickness  at  the  base.  To 
breach  it  effectively  siege  artillery  would  be  required. 
It  is  surmounted  by  a  parapet,  loopholed  for  musketry, 
with  towers  at  intervals.  The  whole  work,  however,  is 
much  out  of  repair — while  as  for  the  extension  built  by 
the  Turks,  you  could  almost  kick  it  down  in  some  places. 
There  are  eight  gates  in  all.  The  citadel  is  on  rising 
ground  abutting  on  to  the  east  end  of  the  town.  It 
covers  a  space  of  several  acres,  and  is  full  of  buildings. 
The  walls  are  high  and  strong,  and  it  would  be  an  awkward 
place  to  carry  by  assault,  though  simply  a  shell  trap 
if  artillery  could  be  brought  to  bear.  The  barracks, 
handsome  stone-built  buildings,  are  situated  to  the  south 
of  the  town  just  outside  the  wall. 

The  houses  of  Sanaa  are  constructed,  as  to  their  lower 
stories,  of  blocks  of  a  dark  basaltic  stone,  the  super¬ 
structure  being  of  sun-baked  brick,  with  fagades  of  stucco 
and  whitewash.  The  stones,  accurately  chiselled,  are 
fitted  together  without  mortar.  The  buildings  have  a 
noticeable  tendency  to  taper  to  a  point,  and  some  of  the 
taller  houses  are  almost  pyramidal  in  shape.  The 
interiors  are  arranged,  usually,  in  the  long  narrow  rooms 
so  dear  to  the  Arabian  architect.  They  are  often  luxuri¬ 
ously  furnished  according  to  Eastern  ideas.  The  streets 
in  the  native  town  are  narrow  and  sombre.  The  Govern¬ 
ment  buildings  constructed  by  the  Turks  after  their 
second  occupation  are  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
town,  fronting  the  “  Bakili  ”  Mosque  across  a  wide 
dusty  space  which  serves  as  a  parade  ground  for  the 
troops  quartered  within  the  town  wall.  Externally 
they  are  rather  imposing,  and  being  built  of  this  same 
black  stone,  which  is  quarried  in  the  neighbourhood,  they 
have  a  gloomy  appearance  in  keeping  with  the  general 
aspect  of  the  city.  The  bazaars  call  for  no  special  notice. 
There  are  no  covered  arcades.  A  watercourse  running 
through  the  town  is  spanned  by  a  bridge.  It  is  dry  most 
of  the  year,  but  comes  down  in  spate  now  and  again. 


REKZO  MAMZOKI 


Muyit.it  (hwgitty/ica.  <(t  i/Oai  t/racld 


Mt’n  I  k'h  i 1. 
Hade  t  d n 


in  fiuono 

in  tattira  nt-ato 
co/Hf// f{n//i  <•/!  ts  to  ri  nat? 


Cti.Au  <  m  pot  can  i  <■ 

Case  m  bttono  citato  c  uAt/atr 
l'««t  dmtrtUic  ,  /tortne 
Vrta.rdim  f  (h  fny/te 
inmpt  rolttrutt 

WXZxsC 


Manzoni’s  Map  of  Sanaa. 

Manzoni,  the  Italian  traveller,  made  several  journeys  to  Sanaa  in  the  years  succeeding  the  second  Turkish  occupation.  There  have  been  no 

important  additions  to  the  city  since  his  day. 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA  243 

In  Eir-el-Azab  the  houses  are  more  European  in  style  and 
nearly  all  of  them  have  gardens.  Here  reside  the  Vali  and 
most  of  the  senior  officers.  The  European  visitor  to 
Sanaa  is  usually  well  advised  to  do  the  same,  for  the  air  is 
much  purer  here  than  in  the  insanitary  Arab  town. 

The  Jews  are  strictly  segregated  in  their  own  quarter, 
“  Kaa-el-Yahood,”  at  the  western  extremity  of  the 
fortified  area.  The  houses  here  are  smaller  and  more 
closely  packed  together  than  in  Sanaa,  but  the  streets 
are  nevertheless  cleaner,  and  their  general  aspect  betokens 
more  industry  and  prosperity. 

The  buildings  in  Sanaa  of  the  greatest  architectural 
pretensions  are  of  course  the  mosques.  The  principal 
Arab  mosque,  which  was  once  a  church,  in  the  days 
when  Christianity  was  the  State  religion,  consists  of  a 
high  wall  with  a  colonnade  on  the  inward  side  opening 
on  to  a  square  unroofed  space,  in  the  middle  of  which 
stands  a  small  cubical  building  somewhat  resembling 
the  Kaaba  at  Mecca.*  That  it  really  was  a  church 
is  attested  by  the  Byzantine  style  of  architecture, 
and  niches  in  the  external  wall  for  the  images  that 
Moslem  iconoclasm  cannot  tolerate.  I  was  shown  round 
this  mosque  by  its  Imam,  who  discoursed  at  length  on 
its  history,  and  was  proud  of  the  art  treasures  in  his 
keeping.  These  consisted  of  works  in  stone  and  brass, 
a  carved  wooden  doorway  which,  while  knowing  nothing 
whatever  about  these  things,  I  should  say  was  very 
fine,  and  several  stones  in  the  walls  bearing  Himyaritic 
inscriptions,  which  he  promised  to  let  me  copy  if  I  liked. 
I  twice  attended  the  Friday  morning  service  in  this 
mosque  before  I  had,  as  related,  to  discontinue  going 
there.  The  congregation  were  nearly  all  Zaidie  Arabs, 
for  Turks  are  discouraged.  The  service  none  the  less 
includes  the  petition  for  the  welfare  of  Mohammed  V., 
“  Commander  of  the  Faithful,”  customary  with  the 
Sunna.  The  Zaidie  mosques  are  peculiar  in  that  singing, 
or  what  practically  amounts  to  it,  is  tolerated  ;  a  practice 
no  doubt  derived  from  the  old-time  Christianity  of  the 
Yemen.  After  the  evening  prayer  the  worshippers  re¬ 
main  in  their  places  to  intone  a  sort  of  rhymed  prayer 
with  a  tuneful  and  rather  melancholy  cadence,  which 

*  They  call  it  “  the  lesser  Kaaba.” 


244  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


lasts  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Except  in  this  matter 
the  Zaidies  do  not  differ  much  in  the  ceremonies  they 
practise  from  other  Sheia  sects. 

There  are  many  other  large  Arab  mosques  in  Sanaa 
which  contain  objects  of  interest,  but  I  was  not  able 
to  visit  them  all,  as  many  have  fallen  into  desuetude  and 
are  only  opened  on  special  occasions.  The  lofty  minarets 
of  brick,  decorated  with  white  stucco,  are  very  picturesque. 
The  traveller  notices  that  the  pigeon  replaces  the  usual 
crescent  as  weathercock.  This  is  not  emblematic  of 
peace,  as  one  might  think,  but  to  commemorate  the 
part  played  by  that  bird  in  the  miraculous  preservation 
of  Mohammed  during  his  flight  to  Medina. 

Very  different  in  design  is  the  Turkish  mosque  known 
as  the  Bakili,  built  during  the  first  Turkish  occupation, 
and  restored  when  they  retook  the  Yemen  in  1872. 
This  is  an  imitation  of  St.  Sophia,  and  though  fine  enough 
externally,  looks  strangely  out  of  keeping  with  its  sur¬ 
roundings.  The  interior,  though  better  kept,  is  tawdry 
in  comparison  with  the  Arab  mosque,  and  rendered  more 
so  by  the  horrible  practice  of  hanging  coloured  glass 
balls,  ostrich  eggs,  and  other  preposterous  objects  from 
the  roof — in  which  it  must  be  admitted  the  Turks  are 
by  no  means  the  only  or  even  the  worst  offenders  in  the 
Near  East.  Those  of  my  readers  who  have  seen  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  will  sympa¬ 
thize  here.  It  looks  like  a  cheap  toy-shop. 

Around  the  walls  of  Sanaa  lie  many  scattered  houses 
which,  when  isolated,  are  generally  furnished  with  a 
keep,  that  is  to  say,  a  round  tower  something  like  a 
martello,  in  which  the  occupants  may  take  refuge  in  case 
of  attack.  The  village  of  Shaoob  lies  to  the  north  of 
Sanaa,  adjoining  it,  and  extends  to  Raudha,  the  large 
town  we  had  noticed  on  our  arrival,  which,  however, 
I  was  not  destined  to  visit.  In  and  about  Shaoob  there 
are  several  large  plantations  of  wattle  trees,  and  a  good 
deal  of  other  cultivation. 

Nearly  all  European  fruits  and  flowers  grow  well  in 
these  fertile  regions.  During  the  time  I  spent  there  we 
had  apples,  apricots,  figs,  mulberries,  and  peaches  for  fruit ; 
roses,  violets,  and  many  other  flowers  ;  and  for  vegetables, 
celery,  spinach,  and  lettuce.  Yet  I  was  not  there  in  the 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA  245 

best  season,  and  left  before  the  grapes,  which  are  the 
pride  of  Sanaa,  were  ripe. 

At  this  altitude  *  cereals  are  cultivated  more  than 
coffee  and  kat,  which  do  better  on  the  lower  slopes. 
Wheat  and  barley,  stunted  in  a  manner  that  looks  strange 
to  the  European,  Indian  corn,  oats,  and  lucerne,  are 
grown  extensively. 

The  population  of  Sanaa  at  the  present  time  is  esti¬ 
mated,  roughly,  at  18,000  souls.  It  has  become  much 
reduced  in  the  past  few  years,  for  which  war  and 
famine  are  responsible.  Great  mortality  from  starvation 
and  diseases  arising  therefrom  occurred  among  the  poorer 
classes  during  the  last  siege.  The  town  at  present  is 
much  too  large  for  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  and 
many  houses  are  standing  empty. 

The  townspeople  fall  into  four  principal  classes  :  the 
military  and  Government  officials,  who  are  for  the  most 
part  Moslem  Turks,  a  coterie  of  Levantine  merchants, 
Ottoman  subjects,  but  Christians,  Roman  Catholic  or 
Orthodox  ;  the  Zaidie  Arabs,  and  the  Jews.  Signor 
Caprotti,  being  the  only  foreign  resident,  forms  a  fifth 
class,  all  to  himself. 

The  Arab  community  in  Sanaa  are  for  the  most  part 
well-to-do.  There  are  many  small  merchants  and  shop¬ 
keepers,  but  the  majority  live  on  the  income  derived  from 
the  lands  they  own  in  the  neighbourhood.  They  are 
the  laziest  people  I  have  ever  come  across.  Their 
morning  is  devoted  to  a  stroll  round  Sanaa  or  out  into 
the  country,  called  the  “  daurah.”  They  lunch  about 
midday,  and  spend  the  rest  of  the  day  eating  kat — the 
national  vice. 

Kat  is  a  shrub  grown  extensively  in  the  Yemen  4 4  middle 
veld,”  that  is  to  say  the  country  at  an  altitude  of  three 
to  four  thousand  feet  above  sea  level.  Its  consumption 
is  almost  universal  among  the  inhabitants  of  this  part 
of  Arabia,  though  it  is  unknown  elsewhere,  so  far  as  I 
am  aware.  The  leaves,  which  somewhat  resemble 
beech,  are  made  into  bundles  on  the  plantations  and 
sent  all  over  the  Yemen  by  special  caravans  ;  for  to  be 
good  it  must  be  eaten  fresh.  It  has  a  rather  acrid  taste 
of  nothing  in  particular,  and  is  said  to  have  a  mildly 

*  7,200  feet  approximately. 


246  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


stimulating  effect  resembling  that  of  strong  tea.-  Per¬ 
sonally  I  never  succeeded  in  eating  enough  kat  to  pro¬ 
duce  any  effect  at  all.  Indeed  the  principal  objection 
to  its  use,  for  it  is  said  to  be  quite  harmless,  is  the  enor¬ 
mous  amount  of  time  it  requires  from  its  devotees.  The 
Arabs  themselves  say  it  is  ruining  the  race,  for  what  with 
the  “  daurah  ”  necessary  to  keep  them  in  health,  and 
the  hours  that  must  be  spent  in  absorbing  kat,  there  is 
no  time  left  for  business  or  study.  Yet  so  fond  of  it  are 
they,  that  they  considered  being  deprived  of  it  the 
greatest  hardship  of  the  siege.  They  do  not  consider 
kat-eating  immoral  :  it  ranks  with  tobacco  and  coffee 
as  an  allowable  stimulant.  Hashish-smoking  and  wine¬ 
drinking,  though  strictly  forbidden  in  theory,  are  very 
common  in  towns,  but  the  country  people  are  abstemious 
in  these  respects. 

Curiously  enough  the  Yemen  Arabs  do  not  care  for 
“  coffee  ”  made  from  the  ground  berries,  and  prefer 
an  infusion  of  the  husks  which  they  call  “  Kishr  ”  (the 
word  means  a  husk  or  rind).  These  husks  fetch  a  higher 
price  than  the  berries.  One  has  to  acquire  a  taste  for 
Kishr,  which  at  first  reminds  one  rather  of  hot  barley 
water.  It  is  refreshing,  however,  and  an  excellent 
thirst-quencher. 

The  dress  of  the  Yemen  Arabs  is  peculiar  to  themselves. 
The  town-bred  Arabs  of  Sanaa  wear  silk  robes,  girdled  at 
the  waist,  large  white  turbans,  and  square-toed  sandals. 
They  nearly  all  carry  a  shoulder-cloth,  which  they  are 
fond  of  wrapping  round  their  heads  in  cold  weather,  and 
they  seldom  wear  the  jubbah.  This  costume,  however, 
is  supposed  to  denote  an  educated  man,  which,  in  their 
eyes,  means  one  versed  in  the  religious  law,  but  in  practice 
it  is  assumed  by  any  one  who  can  afford  it.  The  dress  of 
the  countryman,  the  mountaineer,  and  the  poorer  class 
of  townspeople  is  more  striking  and  picturesque.  It 
consists  of  a  black  turban  fastened  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
a  black  shirt  reaching  to  the  knees,  with  sleeves  as  wide 
as  the  shirt  itself,  and  over  it  in  full  dress  a  coloured 
loin-cloth  and  voluminous  sash.  These  cloths  are 
made  in  the  Yemen  and  are  very  strong.  The  dye 
is  indigo  and  is  not  fast :  it  is  not  supposed  to  be.  They 
like  it  to  smear  off  over  their  faces  and  hands,  and  this, 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA  247 

with  their  long  black  curls  carefully  oiled,  gives  them  an 
appearance  that  is  sometimes  scarcely  human. 

The  Turkish  women  are  dressed  in  black  and  thickly 
veiled.  The  Yashmak  of  Cairo  and  Stamboul  would 
not  be  considered  a  sufficient  covering  for  decency  in  an 
Arabian  town.  The  Arab  women  are  wrapped  in  coloured 
cloths  and  likewise  closely  veiled  in  towns.  In  the 
country  they  go  uncovered,  and  in  some  parts  they  wear 
trousers  in  shape  not  unlike  that  part  of  the  male  attire 
of  Western  Europe. 

The  weapon  of  the  Yemen  highlander  is  the  jambeia,  a 
short  dagger  with  a  broad  curved  blade  which  fits  into  a 
U-shaped  sheath  worn  at  the  waist  under  the  sash.  The 
handle  is  generally  of  horn  ornamented  with  silver,  and 
the  whole,  including  the  blade,  is  made  locally.  No  person 
of  the  male  sex,  over  three  years  of  age,  likes  to  be 
seen  abroad  without  his  jambeia  :  it  is  considered  most 
effeminate.  It  is  amusing  to  see  quite  small  children, 
half  naked,  wearing  these  formidable  knives.  The 
Arabs  are  very  expert  in  their  use.  They  hold  them 
point  downwards  and  curve  inwards,  not  in  the  Italian 
manner,  and  in  attacking  aim  for  the  supra-sternal 
knotch  a  blow  which,  if  rightly  placed,  splits  open  the 
whole  chest-wall,  and  is  instantly  fatal.  There  is  another 
kind  known  as  the  Sabeekeh,  which  is  worn  crossways, 
and  is  nearly  as  long  as  a  sword  bayonet.  I  wanted  to 
buy  one  of  these,  but  the  man  who  sold  them  told  me 
candidly  that  they  were  only  suitable  for  heavy,  powerful 
men,  and  that  for  undersized  people  like  myself,  the 
shorter  weapon  was  preferable. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  extreme  ignorance  of 
the  Sanaa  Arabs.  The  depth  of  it  may  be  gauged  by  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  bookshop  in  the  town.  They  don’t 
read  books,  they  say,  because  they  have  not  the  time. 
You  can’t  both  read  and  eat  kat  with  any  enjoyment 
of  either  occupation,  so  it  seems.  Practically  the  only 
books  obtainable  are  in  manuscript,  which  even  the 
natives  have  difficulty  in  deciphering. 

The  Arabs  of  the  Yemen  in  Arabic  literature  have 
a  reputation  for  ugliness  which  I  think  is  unjustified. 
Though  darker  in  colour,  as  a  rule,  than  the  true  Bedou, 
they  are  noticeably  free  from  the  taint  of  negro  blood 


248  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


so  common  on  the  coast.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  Persian  and  Abyssinian  strains,  grafted  on  the  original 
Semitic  stock,  has  produced,  in  this  splendid  climate,  a 
race  that  need  fear  comparison  with  none  in  point  of 
physique. 

In  character  they  are  brave  and  patriotic,  long-suffer¬ 
ing  in  adversity,  and  steadfast  to  a  cause  :  but  slothful, 
untrustworthy,  hypocritical,  and  vicious.  The  true  Arab 
with  all  his  defects  of  greed  and  cruelty  has  virtues  which 
have  always  been  the  object  of  admiration.  His  word 
once  passed  is  to  him  the  most  sacred  of  obligations. 
He  will  fight  to  the  last  rather  than  surrender  the  fugitive 
who  has  taken  refuge  with  him.  Not  so,  however,  the 
Arab  of  the  Yemen,  with  whom,  not  infrequently,  honour 
is  held  of  small  account  in  comparison  with  gain  or 
personal  advancement. 

The  Christian  merchants  of  Sanaa  are  a  respectable, 
well-to-do  class,  not  remarkable  for  energy  or  enterprise. 
As  Signor  Caprotti  says  of  them,  they  use  up  all  their 
available  ingenuity  in  discovering  Saints’  Days  and 
other  excuses  for  shutting  up  shop  and  going  out  for 
the  day.  They  trade  almost  entirely  with  the  Turks, 
for  articles  of  Western  manufacture  are  not  wanted  by 
the  Arabs.  In  their  shops  such  things  as  European 
clothes,  Huntley  and  Palmer’s  biscuits,  and  sardines  are 
procurable. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all  are  the  Jews,  who 
seem  to  be  the  only  people  to  do  any  real  work.  Were 
they  to  go  on  strike,  life  in  Sanaa  would  become  im¬ 
possible.  This,  however,  is  not  likely  to  happen,  or 
at  any  rate  it  would  be  a  very  sad  thing  for  the  Jews  if 
it  did.  In  their  hands  are  the  sanitary  arrangements 
(such  as  they  are),  the  building  and  repair  of  buildings, 
practically  all  the  artisan  work,  and  certain  other  duties 
which  require  some  more  particular  elucidation .  When  the 
Turks  occupied  the  country  for  the  second  time  it  became 
necessary,  in  order  to  come  to  terms  with  the  Arab 
leaders,  to  proclaim  the  supremacy  of  the  Moslem  law 
throughout  the  land  :  for  the  latter,  however  much  they 
may  evade  it  in  practice,  hold  that  the  Sheria  is  the  only 
code  to  which  a  Moslem  can  properly  submit.  This 
involved  certain  inconvenient  consequences,  among  them 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA 


249 


the  prohibition  of  the  manufacture,  importation,  or  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquor.  Over  thirty  different  varieties  of 
grapes  grow  in  the  Sanaa  Valley,  from  which  a  very 
drinkable  claret  *  and  a  spirit  called  Arki  or  Mastic 
are  expressed.  Now,  since  the  Jews  are  all  going  to  hell 
anyway,  there  is  surely  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
be  as  useful  as  possible  to  us  on  the  way  there  :  and  on 
this  principle  it  has  been  decided  to  leave  the  traffic 
in  liquor  and  certain  other  “  commodities  ”  entirely  in 
their  hands.  This  simple  arrangement  satisfies  all 
parties,  particularly  the  Jews.  The  idea  is  by  no  means 
new  :  it  has  obtained  in  Islamic  countries  since  the 
time  of  Mouawiyah.  There  is  a  story  that  the  King  of 
Rum  4  once  sent  an  ambassador  to  the  court  of  the 
Caliph.  This  diplomat,  who  was  something  of  an  Orienta¬ 
list,  was  much  interested  in  all  he  saw,  and  especially 
struck  by  the  fact  that  the  Moslems,  while  very  strict 
in  some  of  their  religious  observances,  were  very 
lax  in  others.  “Why  is  it,”  he  asked  the  Caliph  in 
audience  one  day,  “that  you  Moslems  drink  wine,  but 
refuse  pork,  when  both  are  forbidden  by  your  book  ?  ” 
The  Caliph  referred  him  to  certain  learned  doctors 
present,  who  propounded  theories,  various  and  in¬ 
genious,  based  on  differing  interpretations  of  those 
texts  in  the  Koran  bearing  on  the  subject.  “  Very 
interesting  indeed,”  said  the  ambassador  when  the  last 
had  finished,  “  but  I  think  I  know  a  better  answer  still  : 
you  like  wine  and  you  don’t  like  pork.”  At  which  the 
Caliph  stroked  his  beard  reflectively,  the  learned  doctors 
frowned,  and  the  rest  of  the  company  tittered. 

In  spite  of  the  constitution  the  Jews  of  Sanaa  are 
subject  to  certain  disabilities.  They  are  distinguished 
from  their  masters,  the  Arabs,  by  their  dress — an  un¬ 
girded  tunic  of  print  or  cotton  reaching  to  the  knees — 
by  their  close-fitting  skull-caps,  and  the  absence  of 
weapons.  They  dress  their  hair  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
in  plaits  hanging  down  on  each  cheek.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  ride  in  the  town,  and  even  outside  they  must 
dismount  when  passing  a  Moslem.  Withal,  however, 
it  would  be  unfair  to  describe  them  as  an  oppressed 

*  The  Consul  says  it  is  the  most  filthy  stuff  he  ever  tasted. 

f  I.e.  the  Emperor  of  Byzantium. 


250  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


community.  The  law  is  administered  fairly  with  regard 
to  them,  and  they  are  on  the  whole  prosperous  and  con¬ 
tented.  The  side  having  the  upper  hand  in  Sanaa  for  the 
time  being,  whether  Arab  or  Turk,  finds  that  it  pays  to 
conciliate  them.  They  are  not  interfered  with  in  their 
religious  practices,  in  which  matter  they  are  far  more 
strict  than  either  the  Moslems  or  Christians.  Nothing 
will  induce  them  to  do  business  on  the  Sabbath  or  during 
any  of  their  numerous  fasts  and  festivals  ;  and  this  fact 
is  fully  realized  by  their  employers,  who  put  up  with 
the  inconvenience  occasioned  thereby  without  much 
grumbling. 

The  Ghetto  is  a  very  interesting  place.  Crouched  in 
the  dingy  hovels  which  serve  for  shops,  one  sees  types 
that  reproduce  exactly  what  one  has  pictured  to  one’s  self 
in  reading  about  historical  events  where  Jews  have 
played  a  part.  It  is  curious  that  it  should  so  seldom 
seem  to  occur  to  the  painter  of  Biblical  subjects  that 
the  characters  he  depicts  ought  to  look  like  Jews  and  not 
like  Germans. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  people  of  Sanaa  are  remarkably 
peaceful  and  law-abiding — perhaps  because  they  all  go 
armed.  Serious  crimes  of  violence  are  rare.  The  same 
must  be  said  of  the  soldiers,  who,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Albanian  regiments  that  came  in  after  the  siege, 
were  as  a  rule  quiet  and  well  behaved.  Despite  their 
rapacity  the  inhabitants  compare  favourably  with  other 
Orientals  in  the  matter  of  commercial  integrity.  This 
may  be  due  in  part  to  the  absence  of  opportunity 
for  cheating  :  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  practically 
no  visitors  come  to  Sanaa,  There  are  no  tourists  to 
create,  by  their  ignorance  of  the  language  and  customs, 
those  classes  of  dragomen,  curio  manufacturers,  pimps, 
and  other  rogues  that  infest  the  more  travelled  parts  of 
the  East,  preying  on  the  simplicity  of  the  visitor  and 
demoralizing  the  native  population,  only  too  ready  as  a 
rule  to  earn  money  in  any  way  that  does  not  involve 
manual  labour. 

The  climate  of  Sanaa  is  cool  and  pleasant  all  the  year 
round.  The  rainy  season  is  the  autumn.  The  nights 
are  very  cold  in  winter,  but  the  days  are  warm.  In 
summer  the  heat,  though  considerable,  is  not  oppressive, 


HODEIDAH  TO  SANAA 


251 


owing  to  the  dryness  of  the  air.  In  the  month  of  May 
I  sometimes  obtained  a  difference  of  more  than  twenty 
degrees  between  the  wet  and  dry  bulb  thermometer 
readings.  The  only  rain  that  fell  during  the  first  three 
months  I  spent  there  was  brought  on  in  showers  by  the 
heavy  artillery  fire  at  times  during  the  siege.  Otherwise 
the  sky  was  cloudless  and  the  air  calm. 

In  spite  of  the  excellent  climate,  Sanaa  is  an  unhealthy 
city.  Typhus  fever  and  malaria  are  prevalent,  though 
the  latter  is  probably  contracted  on  the  way  up  in  most 
cases.  Both  Ahmad  and  I  suffered  from  tertian  ague  for 
some  time  after  our  arrival.  Prolonged  residence  seems 
liable  to  induce  a  form  of  anaemia  which  is  cured  by  a 
change. 

The  water-supply  is  plentiful  and  good.  A  perennial 
stream  runs  through  the  valley,  and  there  are  many 
wells  both  within  and  without  the  walls.  The  purest 
source  is  a  spring  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  “  Gebel 
Nugoom,”  to  which  it  is  well  worth  while  to  send  for 
drinking  water  if  possible. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 

In  the  early  days  of  January  1911  events  took  place 
which  left  no  room  for  further  doubts  as  to  the  actual 
imminence  of  an  insurrection.  There  was  a  sudden 
recrudescence  of  the  firing  by  night  which  had  been 
going  on  for  some  time  past  at  intervals,  and  which  is 
supposed  to  mean  that  the  Imam  is  about  to  make 
another  effort  to  drive  out  the  Turks.  It  was  rumoured 
that  the  Imam  himself  was  advancing  from  the  north 
at  the  head  of  a  large  army. 

On  January  8  his  advance  guard  reached  Raudha  : 
and  that  night  parties  of  the  Arab  sharpshooters  occupied 
the  houses  in  Shaoob  and  sniped  the  walls.  They  were 
driven  out  the  following  day  by  a  strong  force  sent 
against  them  which  then  bombarded  Raudha,  but  was 
forced  to  retire  after  sustaining  some  loss. 

On  January  12  an  attempt  was  made  to  bring  in  the 
mail,  which  had  reached  Senam  Pasha,  but  was  unable 
to  proceed  farther.  A  considerable  force,  with  artillery 
and  machine  guns,  advanced  from  the  Hodeidah  gate 
and  was  soon  hotly  engaged.  The  Arabs  charged  fiercely, 
but  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  by  the  fire  of  the 
Turkish  machine  guns.  The  fighting  lasted  till  sundown, 
when  the  Ottoman  troops  beat  a  retreat,  having  failed 
to  capture  the  ridge  overlooking  the  town  from  the  west, 
which  was  presumably  their  object.  The  Arabs,  how¬ 
ever,  suffered  severely  in  the  engagement.  Four  im¬ 
portant  chieftains  and  over  a  thousand  of  their  followers 
were  reported  to  have  fallen.  Great  flocks  of  vultures 
could  be  seen  circling  above  the  battlefield  for  many 
days  after.  The  Turkish  casualties  were  by  comparison 
inconsiderable. 

That  evening  a  state  of  siege  was  proclaimed  in  Sanaa. 

252 


253 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 

The  gates  were  closed  ;  no  one  on  pain  of  death  was  to 
attempt  to  enter  or  leave  the  town,  and  after  sundown 
citizens  were  to  remain  in  their  houses. 

The  military  situation  at  this  date  was  briefly  as 
follows  :  Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Governor- 
General  and  Commander-in-Chief,  had  at  his  disposal  an 
army  of  about  40,000  troops  which  was  employed  in 
garrisoning  the  more  important  towns,  in  holding  the 
blockhouses  on  the  Hodeidah  road,  and  in  various  small 
detached  posts  scattered  about  the  country.  No  striking 
force  large  enough  to  bring  the  Imam  to  battle  was 
available  anywhere  in  the  Yemen.  These  dispositions, 
unsound  as  they  may  appear  strategically,  were  none 
the  less  deliberate,  and  the  outcome  of  a  settled  policy. 
In  the  event  of  a  revolt  the  force  at  hand  would  be 
sufficient  to  cope  with  the  situation,  and  therefore,  as  an 
army  would  have  to  be  sent  from  Europe  in  any  case,  the 
best  thing  to  do,  it  was  considered,  was  to  hold  on  to  as 
much  as  possible,  allow  the  Arabs  to  wear  themselves  out  in 
besieging  the  fortified  towns  and  other  posts,  and  wait 
for  the  reinforcements  before  assuming  the  offensive. 
The  Turkish  commander,  in  my  own  opinion,  is  less 
open  to  criticism  for  his  general  plan  of  campaign 
than  for  the  manner  in  which  it  was  carried  out.  He 
held  far  too  many  detached  posts,  with  garrisons  of 
half  a  company  or  so,  and  neglected  to  provision  them 
properly.  He  committed  the  supreme  tactical  error  of 
employing  single  guns  for  the  defence  of  isolated  positions, 
and  he  further  failed  to  provide  for  the  withdrawal  of 
the  troops  holding  the  blockhouse  line,  and  those 
stationed  in  other  places  where,  when  hostilities  became 
imminent,  they  were  no  longer  required.  As  the  direct 
result  of  these  faulty  dispositions  a  large  number  of 
prisoners  and  several  pieces  of  artillery  fell  into  the 
enemy’s  hands  at  the  outset  of  the  rebellion,  which 
not  only  served  to  encourage  the  rebels,  but  prevented, 
from  fear  of  reprisals,  any  severe  measures  being  adopted 
against  them  when  the  Turks  once  more  gained  the 
upper  hand. 

In  Sanaa  itself  we  had,  I  believe,  six  regiments  of 
regular  infantry,  about  one  thousand  Arab  irregulars, 
four  four-gun  batteries  of  field  artillery,  four  mortars, 


254  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


six  machine  guns,  and  a  squadron  of  cavalry.  Besides 
these  there  were  six  guns  in  the  citadel,  and  about  a 
dozen  more  over  the  gates  and  in  position  on  the  wall. 
The  fortress  on  the  summit  of  Gebel  Nugoom  was  held 
by  a  battalion  with  several  guns.  Mohammed  Ali 
Pasha  commanded  in  person. 

It  is  not  possible  to  do  more  than  guess  at  the  numbers 
at  the  disposition  of  the  Imam  Yahya.  In  all  probability 
not  less  than  150,000  riflemen  took  the  field  on  this 
occasion.  His  artillery,  consisting  of  some  seventy  odd 
pieces,  of  varying  calibre,  but  all  more  or  less  modern 
and  quite  serviceable,  was  at  Shaharah,  but  it  Was 
doubtful  from  the  first  whether  he  could  avail  himself 
of  it,  principally  for  lack  of  gunners.  Shaharah  is  the 
Imam’s  stronghold.  It  lies  several  days’  journey  to  the 
north  of  Sanaa,  and  has  never  been  visited,  so  far  as 
we  know,  by  any  European,  or  by  any  Turk  except  as 
a  prisoner  or  deserter.  It  is  said  to  consist  of  two  flat- 
topped  mountains  connected  by  a  natural  bridge,  the 
plateau  being  fertile  and  well  watered.  The  Arabs  con¬ 
sider  this  place  to  be  impregnable,  but  I  take  leave  to 
doubt  if  it  be  really  as  formidable  as  they  think.  Most 
probably  it  will  turn  out  to  be  more  imposing  than  de¬ 
fensible,  like  most  so-called  “  native  strongholds.”  Simul¬ 
taneously  with  Sanaa  all  the  other  Turkish  garrisons  in 
the  Yemen  highlands  were  invested. 

Both  sides  issued  extravagant  proclamations  :  the 
Imam  that  he  would  not  sheathe  his  sword  till  the  last 
Turk  had  been  driven  into  the  sea  ;  the  Turkish  com¬ 
mander  that  he  would  not  retreat  one  step,  and  that  the 
Yemen  question  should  be  settled  this  time  once  and 
for  all. 

The  Ottoman  Government  had  to  face  a  most  difficult 
and  dangerous  situation,  for  besides  this  formidable 
revolt  of  the  Zaidie  tribes  led  by  the  Imam,  another 
rebellion  had  broken  out  in  Tehama  and  the  Asir  country, 
which  might  at  any  moment  assume  dangerous  propor¬ 
tions.  This  latter  movement  owed  its  inception  to 
causes  entirely  different  from  those  responsible  for  the 
Zaidie  rising.  A  certain  Seyyid  Idrees,*  a  Magribi  by  race, 
for  some  years  past  had  been  preaching  a  revival  which  had 

*  Commonly  called  “  the  Idreesie.” 


255 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 

lately  developed  into  an  anti-Ottoman  movement  among 
the  Sunna  tribes  of  the  coast  belt.  His  propaganda  had 
attained  so  large  a  measure  of  success  that  the  Turks, 
after  fruitless  endeavours  to  come  to  terms  with  him, 
had  been  forced  to  declare  war.  In  consequence,  Abha, 
the  capital  of  the  Asir  Sandjak,  was  besieged  by  the 
Idreesie’s  followers,  and  the  coast  towns  were  threatened. 
There  was  even  some  talk  of  the  Idreesie  attacking 
Hodeidah.  Though  they  were  seeking  a  common  end, 
an  alliance  between  the  two  rebellious  parties  was  im¬ 
probable,  owing  to  their  religious  differences  ;  but  the 
fact  of  these  hostile  tribes  being  on  the  flank  was  in 
itself  enough  to  hamper  seriously  the  movements  of  the 
relieving  army. 

In  these  difficult  circumstances  the  measures  adopted 
by  the  Porte  were  probably  the  best  that  could  have 
been  devised.  A  force  of  about  40,000  men  under 
General  Izzet  Pasha  was  despatched  to  Hodeidah,  the 
Hedjaz  garrison  was  reinforced,  and  the  Sharee  of  Mecca 
was  induced  to  undertake  the  invasion  of  Asir  and  the 
relief  of  Abha,  with  an  army  of  Bedou  Arabs  raised 
locally,  to  which  Turkish  regulars  and  artillery  were 
added  as  a  stiffening.  This,  it  was  hoped,  would  keep 
the  Idreesie  quiet  while  the  Imam  was  being  crushed, 
and  would  further  minimize  the  risk  of  trouble  in  the 
Hedjaz  declaring  itself  on  top  of  the  other  complications — 
for  so  long  as  the  tribesmen  are  fighting  somebody,  they 
do  not  very  much  care  who  it  may  happen  to  be.  It 
was  obvious  however  that  some  months  must  elapse 
before  Sanaa  could  be  relieved — a  necessary  preliminary 
to  any  decisive  action. 

The  Imam  probably  considered  that  his  best  chance  of 
success  lay  in  capturing  Sanaa  before  troops  could  arrive 
from  Europe  to  the  rescue.  A  successful  assault  on  the 
town  would  immensely  enhance  his  own  prestige,  while 
proportionately  demoralizing  the  Turks.  He  is  said  to 
have  urged  this  course  on  his  followers  during  the  early 
days  of  the  siege,  but  without  success  :  the  reason  for 
this  we  shall  see  later. 

The  first  event  of  importance  that  took  place  after  the 
investment  had  begun  was  the  defection  of  the  “  Millah.” 
The  “  Millah  ”  were  the  irregular  Arab  troops  raised 


256  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


by  the  Turks  at  the  time  when  the  enthusiasm  for  “  con¬ 
stitutional  ”  methods  was  at  its  height.  They  were 
armed  and  fed,  highly  paid,  and  well  clothed  by  the 
Government.  At  first  they  were  dressed  in  khaki, 
like  the  regular  soldiers,  but  as  they  objected  to  this  a 
uniform  was  devised  for  them  more  nearly  corresponding 
to  their  ordinary  attire,  in  which,  with  their  natural 
aptitude  for  drill  as  for  everything  connected  with  the 
soldier’s  trade,  they  looked  on  parade  a  very  smart  body 
of  men.  We  ourselves  were  responsible,  indirectly,  for 
this  curious  experiment  and  its  unfortunate  result.  It 
was  our  remarkable  success  with  Egyptian  troops  led  by 
British  officers  in  the  Sudan  campaign  that  caused  it 
to  be  made.  With  a  misapprehension  of  the  relative 
conditions  that  is  almost  pathetic,  the  Turks  argued  that 
with  better  material  to  work  upon  they  ought  to  be  even 
more  successful  than  we  were,  and  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  occurred  to  any  one  that  however  wise  it  might  be 
on  occasion  to  utilize  the  military  resources  of  Arabia 
in  foreign  wars,  it  is  not  advisable  to  employ  locally 
raised  troops  against  their  own  people. 

The  Imam  offered  seventy  dollars  for  every  head  of 
a  “  Millie  ”  brought  to  him,  and  in  consequence  about 
five  hundred  of  them  deserted  from  Sanaa  in  a  body 
on  January  16,  while  the  remainder  were  seized  and  im¬ 
prisoned  only  just  in  time  to  frustrate  a  plot  to 
blow  up  their  barracks.  The  gendarmerie,  however, 
remained  loyal  for  the  most  part.  This  corps  also  had 
been  raised  locally,  but  long  before  the  “  Millah.” 
The  men  were  of  a  superior  class,  and  more  carefully 
selected  from  among  those  likely  to  prove  faithful. 
At  any  rate  in  their  case  the  policy  of  the  Turks  was 
justified  by  results,  for,  in  spite  of  individual  deser¬ 
tions,  they  proved  very  useful. 

The  authorities,  now  thoroughly  alarmed  for  the  safety 
of  the  town,  proceeded  to  imprison  most  of  the  principal 
Arab  citizens,  including  every  one  who  was  known  to 
have  had  anything  to  do  with  the  writer,  and  took  all 
precautions  to  prevent  a  sudden  rising  from  within 
coinciding  with  the  attack  from  without  which  was 
generally  anticipated. 

Nothing  more  of  importance  happened  for  several 


257 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 

days.  The  Arabs  maintained  a  constant  rifle-fire  on  the 
town  both  day  and  night,  to  which  the  besieged  replied 
with  their  artillery  and  musketry  from  the  wall.  There 
was  a  great  deal  of  noise  and  very  little  result.  The 
Turks,  as  a  measure  of  defence,  had  sown  the  ground 
without  the  walls  with  fougasses  or  land  mines. 
These  nasty,  dangerous  contrivances  consist  in  a  shell 
buried  in  the  ground  with  the  ordinary  fuse  removed, 
and  a  friction  arrangement  substituted,  so  contrived  that 
the  shell  explodes  when  any  one  treads  on  it.  The  use 
of  these  infernal  machines  is  confined  in  regular  warfare 
to  cases  where  it  is  necessary  to  protect  some  particularly 
vulnerable  spot,  for  unless  put  down  in  enormous  numbers 
they  are  evidently  useless  on  an  extended  line  of  defence. 
They  have,  however,  a  certain  moral  effect  not  easy  to 
account  for,  from  which  the  most  civilized  troops  are 
not  exempt.  The  failure  of  the  first  assault  on  the  Redan 
is  said  to  have  been  due  to  fear  of  the  work  being  mined, 
and  the  terror  they  inspired  certainly  contributed  towards 
preventing  the  Arabs  storming  Sanaa.  Most  unfortu¬ 
nately  the  officer  charged  with  their  laying  suffered  from 
a  short  memory,  and  having  moreover  taken  to  drink 
during  the  siege,  was  unable  at  the  end  of  it  to  recollect 
where  he  had  put  them.  He  became  the  most  unpopular 
man  in  Sanaa. 

Towards  the  end  of  January  the  Arabs  received  large 
reinforcements,  as  was  shown  by  a  sudden  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  camp  fires  visible  by  night 
around  the  town.  On  the  29th,  30th,  and  31st  the  fighting 
was  continuous :  the  Arabs  attacked  from  Shaoob, 
where  they  found  good  cover  among  the  trees  and  build¬ 
ings  ;  but  though  several  casualties  occurred  among  the 
soldiers  defending  the  wall  at  this  point,  their  attack 
was  easily  repulsed.  News  reached  us  on  February  1 
that  the  Turkish  fortified  posts  at  Asr  (the  ridge  from 
which  we  had  obtained  our  first  view  of  Sanaa)  had 
been  taken,  and  with  them  three  guns.  The  fall  of 
Matinah  was  rumoured  persistently.  The  Imam  him¬ 
self,  we  heard,  was  now  in  command  and  had  deter¬ 
mined  to  assault  immediately :  scaling  ladders  were 
being  hastily  prepared,  and  the  Arab  artillery  was  about 
to  be  brought  into  action. 

17 


258  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


There  is  little  doubt  that,  had  a  determined  assault 
been  made,  it  would  have  been  successful  at  compara¬ 
tively  small  cost  to  the  attacking  force.  The  extent  of 
the  Turkish  line  of  defence  was  far  too  great  for  the 
number  of  troops  available  to  hold  it.  In  fact  it  seems 
probable  that  the  Turkish  commander  had  resigned 
himself  to  the  loss  of  the  town  itself,  and  was  proposing 
to  hold  out  in  the  citadel  till  relief  came.  At  the  most 
critical  time  troops  were  withdrawn  from  Sanaa  to 
reinforce  the  garrison  of  the  fortress  on  Gebel  Nugoom. 
So  long  as  these  two  points  remained  in  Turkish  hands 
it  mattered  little  by  comparison  what  happened  to  the 
rest  of  Sanaa. 

The  Arab  leaders,  with  whom  in  military  matters,  at 
any  rate,  the  authority  of  the  Imam  is  of  little  weight, 
were  not  of  one  mind.  There  is  a  curious  superstition 
that  Sanaa  enjoys  Divine  protection,  and  though  the  city 
may  be  starved  into  surrender  any  attempt  to  take  it 
by  storm  is  foredoomed  to  failure.  The  astrologers  de¬ 
clared  that  the  season  was  unfavourable,  and  the  matter 
ended  in  the  opportunity  slipping  away  before  the  Arabs 
had  made  up  their  minds  to  take  advantage  of  it.  Mo¬ 
hammed  Ali  Pasha  himself  explained  this  supineness  by 
the  fact  that  the  highland  Arabs,  though  brave  in  the 
open  and  stubborn  in  defence,  dislike  attacking  fortifica¬ 
tions,  and  by  their  fear  of  the  Turkish  land  mines. 

Perhaps  the  Arabs  thought  that  as  they  had  succeeded 
before  in  starving  out  the  garrison,  so  they  would  suc¬ 
ceed  on  this  occasion.  The  Turks,  however,  had  learned 
their  lesson.  They  had  in  store,  so  it  was  said,  enough 
food  to  keep  the  troops  on  full  rations  for  two  years,  and 
a  supply  of  ammunition  larger  than  could  conceivably 
be  wanted. 

The  neglect  of  the  rebels  to  employ  their  artillery  is 
more  easily  explicable.  For  one  thing,  though  they  had 
among  them  a  few  men,  deserters  from  the  Turks,  capable 
of  working  guns  after  a  fashion,  there  was  no  one  in  the 
Arab  army  who  properly  understood  their  use.  No  one 
could  be  found  to  set  the  fuses,  with  the  result  that  out  of 
the  seven  hundred  shells  that  they  fired  into  Senam 
Pasha,  not  a  single  one  burst.  The  Imam  would  be  the 
last  to  wish  damage  to  the  city  itself,  of  which,  like  all 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 


259 


Yemen  Arabs,  he  is  inordinately  proud.  The  victims  of 
a  bombardment  would  have  been  for  the  most  part  Arab 
sympathizers.  The  citadel  was  full  of  Arab  prisoners, 
several  near  relations  of  the  Imam  among  them.  The 
barracks  without  the  wall  provided  a  suitable  target, 
it  is  true,  but  the  country  on  this  side  is  quite  open, 
without  a  trace  of  cover  for  several  miles,  and  no  artillery 
position  exists  within  what  the  Arabs  consider  a  practi¬ 
cable  range.  So  strongly  built  are  these  barracks  that 
some  shells  which  struck  them  when  Ahmad  Feizi  Pasha 
was  retaking  Sanaa  burst  without  penetrating  the  walls. 

The  fighting  therefore  continued  through  February 
and  March  in  the  desultory  manner  described.  The 
expenditure  of  ammunition  on  both  sides  was  enormous. 
It  may  well  be  asked  where  all  the  rifles  and  ammunition 
in  the  possession  of  the  Arabs  come  from.  Many  people, 
remembering  all  the  precautions  taken  to  prevent  gun- 
running  into  Arabia,  suppose  that  they  are  more  or  less 
unarmed,  or  at  most  in  possession  only  of  obsolete  muzzle¬ 
loading  weapons.  This  is  by  no  means  the  case.  So  far 
as  the  Western  borderlands  are  concerned  it  can  safely 
be  said  that  any  Arab  capable  of  bearing  arms  who  does 
not  possess  a  modern  rifle  is  the  exception  that  proves 
the  rule.  Rifles  and  ammunition  can  be  bought  in  this 
part  of  Arabia  more  cheaply  than  in  Europe.  Great 
quantities  have  been  captured  from  the  Turks  at  different 
times  ;  ammunition  is  sold  by  the  soldiers  to  agents,  who 
carry  on  this  nefarious  business  behind  the  backs  of  the 
authorities,  who,  while  aware  of  what  goes  on,  find  it  very 
difficult  to  put  a  stop  to  the  traffic.  Rifles  in  large 
numbers  find  their  way  into  the  country  from  Syria. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  large  fortunes  are  made  over 
it.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  rifles  used  by  the  Arabs  both 
here  and  in  the  Hedjaz  are  of  the  same  pattern  (the 
5 74  Mauser)  as  that  still  used  extensively  in  the  Turkish 
army.* 

Personally,  I  cannot  see  why  the  Arabs  should  not 
be  allowed  to  arm.  The  French  firms  that  trade 

*  All  the  troops  garrisoning  Sanaa  were  armed  with  it.  It  is  a  single 
loader  of  about  *400  bore,  firing  black  powder,  sighted  to  1,200  metres. 
Izzet  Pasha’s  force  had  the  *27 5  Mauser,  the  weapon  used  by  the  Boers 
in  the  Transvaal  war. 


260  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


with  Oman  have,  to  my  mind,  as  good  justification  for 
importing  arms  into  Arabia  as  Elswick  &  Co.  have  for 
selling  Dreadnoughts  to  Brazil ;  and  similarly,  I  consider 
that  the  Zaidie  Imam  is  as  much  within  his  right  in 
declaring  war  on  Turkey,  if  he  wants  to,  as  the  King 
of  Italy.  That,  however,  is  neither  here  nor  there. 

During  the  first  two  months  of  the  siege  no  one,  not 
even  the  poorer  classes,  suffered  from  it  any  hardship 
more  severe  than  the  deprivation  of  kat.  Provisions 
at  first  were  but  very  little  dearer  than  in  peace  time. 
Fresh  meat,  milk,  butter,  vegetables,  and  other  luxuries, 
though  expensive,  were  obtainable  by  such  as  could 
afford  them  right  up  to  the  end.  The  gardens  of  Bir- 
el-Azab  within  the  wall  are  very  productive.  Late  in 
the  siege  the  supply  of  fuel  ran  out,  and  many  of  the 
townspeople  suffered  much  from  lack  of  it.  Such 
things  as  lamp-oil,  cigarettes,  and  tobacco  became  un¬ 
procurable  except  at  extravagant  prices.  The  authori¬ 
ties  wisely  seized  for  the  use  of  the  troops  an  ample 
supply  of  every  necessary  that  seemed  likely  to  become 
scarce,  so  that  the  soldiers,  though  much  overworked 
owing  to  their  insufficient  numbers,  did  not  otherwise 
fare  badly.  This  action  greatly  distressed  the  Jews,  who, 
foreseeing  the  course  of  events,  had  cornered  the 
supply  of  oil,  among  other  things,  and  refused  to  sell 
any  except  at  an  enormous  profit.  Mohammed  Ali, 
however,  shares  Mr.  Taft’s  views  regarding  these  com¬ 
binations  in  restraint  of  trade,  and  after  the  leaders  of 
the  Jewish  community  had  had  a  short  interview  with 
him,  the  oil  was  forthcoming  at  a  reasonable  price. 
They  got  even  with  the  Turks  by  putting  up  the  price 
of  “  mastic,”  to  which,  as  the  stuff  is  not  supposed  to  be 
sold  at  all,  it  was  difficult  to  object. 

A  question  concerning  the  currency  led  to  trouble  in 
the  following  manner.  The  Arabs,  for  some  reason,  have 
a  weakness  for  the  Maria  Tereza  dollar,  a  very  clumsy 
silver  coin  larger  than  a  crown,  and  worth  less  than  two 
shillings.  This,  with  the  Turkish  piastre,  forms  the 
silver  currency  of  the  country,  for  the  Arabs,  except  in 
towns,  will  not  accept  the  Magidie.  The  relative  value 
in  piastres  of  the  Beale  (dollar)  and  the  Magidie  afforded 
therefore  a  convenient  method  of  gauging  the  state  of 


A  view  in  Sanaa 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 


261 


public  opinion  with  regard  to  the  probable  outcome  of 
the  campaign,  for  in  the  event  of  the  Turks  being  worsted 
the  latter  would  become  almost  valueless.  On  the  day 
that  the  Asr  forts  were  lost,  the  number  of.piastres  held 
equivalent  to  a  reale,  normally  ten  or  eleven,  rose  to 
nineteen,  while  the  value  of  the  Magidie  depreciated 
correspondingly.  This  did  not  suit  the  authorities  at  all, 
and  they  proceeded  to  lay  hands  on  all  the  Reales  they 
could  find,  thus  forcing  the  Arabs  to  use  Turkish  money. 
Any  one  who  refused  the  Magidie,  or  would  accept  it  only 
at  a  discount,  was  liable  to  be  flogged.  A  more  hopeless 
muddle  than  the  present  condition  of  the  Turkish  currency 
would  be  difficult  to  conceive.  It  is  different  wherever 
one  goes,  and  the  value  of  the  principal  coins  fluctuates 
daily.  There  are  about  a  dozen  different  coins  in  common 
use,  none  of  which  is  exactly  divisible  into  a  whole  number 
of  the  next  smallest.  I  have  never  yet  succeeded  in 
changing  a  Turkish  pound  without  an  argument  about  it. 
•  •  •  •  • 

I  must  turn  now  from  the  history  of  the  campaign  to 
the  less  interesting  story  of  my  own  adventures  :  for 
the  reader  will  have  surmised  that  the  attitude  of  benevo¬ 
lent  aloofness  concerning  my  doings,  assumed  at  first 
by  the  authorities,  did  not  survive  the  actual  outbreak 
of  hostilities.  Given  the  frame  of  mind  which  I  have 
tried  to  describe  in  the  preceding  pages,  the  belief  that 
I  was  an  agent  of  the  British  Government  charged  with 
the  manipulation  of  some  plot  against  the  Ottoman 
supremacy,  and  given  the  real  danger  of  an  outbreak  in 
Sanaa,  that  would  have  been  too  much  to  expect.  Be¬ 
side  the  general  belief  that  they  spend  their  time  in 
Downing  Street  in  working  out  schemes  to  grab  the 
Yemen,  the  Turks  charge  us  on  certain  more  specific 
indictments.  They  complain  that  in  the  year  1909  we 
did,  of  set  design  and  malice  aforethought,  supply  to  the 
Imam  Yahya  two  Maxim  guns  and  a  minting  machine. 
If  this  be  so,  it  can  only  be  said  that  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment  must  have  got  the  best  of  the  bargain  for  once  in 
a  way,  for  the  machine  in  question  turns  out  the  worst 
money  ever  seen. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  siege  I  was  not  interfered  with 
openly.  A  couple  of  policemen,  badly  disguised  as  Arabs 


262  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


of  the  town,  were  set  to  watch  my  movements,  and  there 
was,  of  course,  the  incident  that  led  to  my  ceasing  to 
visit  the  great  mosque,  but  these  things  caused  me  no 
actual  inconvenience.  Thanks  to  a  warning  given  me 
in  good  time  by  Signor  Caprotti,  I  was  enabled  to  lay 
in  a  good  stock  of  firewood,  oil,  and  other  necessaries 
before  the  blockade  began.  My  principal  anxiety  was 
that  my  luggage  should  arrive  first,  for  I  had  brought 
nothing  with  me,  and  was  still  dressed  in  Arab  clothes. 
Once  in  possession  of  my  instruments,  books,  and  so  on, 
I  should  not  care,  I  thought,  how  long  the  siege  might 
last,  for  there  were  plenty  of  opportunities  for  doing 
useful  work  in  Sanaa  itself.  I  had  arranged  that  my 
things  should  be  sent  after  me  as  soon  as  a  telegram  had 
announced  my  safe  arrival.  I  imagined — wrongly,  as 
it  turned  out — that  they  were  with  the  mail  that  was 
driven  back  on  Senam  Pasha. 

A  few  days  after  the  state  of  siege  was  declared,  two 
policemen  arrived  with  a  request  that  I  would  wait  on 
the  Mudir  of  police  at  his  office  in  the  Government 
buildings.  Thither  I  went,  to  be  received  politely  by  that 
functionary,  and  informed  through  the  medium  of  his 
subordinate,  the  Mufattish  (inspector),  for  the  Mudir 
himself  spoke  only  Turkish,  that  the  Vali  had  ordered 
certain  measures  to  be  adopted  towards  me.  A  plot  to 
assassinate  me  had  been  discovered  (very  true,  I  thought), 
and  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  future  to  place  sentries 
at  the  doors  of  my  house,  and  to  detail  two  military 
policemen  to  accompany  me  wherever  I  went.  Further¬ 
more,  any  visitors  I  might  wish  to  receive  must  first  be 
approved  by  the  Mudir.  . 

All  this  was  very  annoying,  but  left  me  with  nothing  to 
say.  The  telegraph  line  was  cut  by  the  rebels,  and  the 
only  communication  with  Hodeidah  was  by  heliograph, 
which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  military.  War  is 
war,  and  the  Turks  were  most  certainly  justified  in 
taking  any  measures  they  might  deem  necessary  for  the 
safety  of  the  town.  Accordingly  I  thanked  the  Mudir  for 
this  extreme,  almost  excessive,  consideration  for  my 
safety,  and  retired. 

The  two  military  policemen  who  were  to  take  charge 
of  me  accompanied  me  home,  and  the  sentries,  two  in 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 


263 


number,  were  posted  immediately  in  positions  where 
they  commanded  every  possible  means  of  egress.  One 
of  the  policemen  was  an  enormously  tall  Turk,  a  sergeant 
in  an  infantry  regiment,  the  other  an  Arab,  one  of  the 
Millah,  who  was  still  trusted  by  the  Government,  partly 
no  doubt  because  he  had  a  family  in  Sanaa,  on  whom 
vengeance  could  be  taken  if  he  played  false.  As  I  did 
not  wish  to  live  under  the  constant  observation  of  these 
“  guardians,”  who  were  meant  evidently  to  spy  on  my 
actions,  on  consideration  I  decided  to  dismiss  temporarily 
“  the  Napani,”  whom  I  did  not  trust,  to  make  the  cook 
sleep  at  his  own  home,  put  the  policemen  in  the  furnished 
room  over  the  porch,  and  occupy  the  rest  of  the  building 
myself.  Thus  the  police  and  I  were  practically  in 
separate  houses,  for  to  get  to  my  part  of  the  establish¬ 
ment  they  had  to  cross  the  courtyard  and  knock  at  my 
front  door,  which  I  sometimes  kept  locked.  To  this 
arrangement,  while  it  defeated  the  purpose  of  the  authori¬ 
ties,  it  was  very  difficult  to  find  objections  :  they  con¬ 
sidered  that  I  had  “  euchred  ”  them,  and  were  more 
than  ever  convinced  that  some  nefarious  design  was  in 
process  of  maturing. 

Some  days  later  I  visited  Signor  Caprotti  for  the 
last  time  for  many  weeks.  Though  we  conversed  in 
French,  he  was  cautious  in  case  the  sergeant,  who  in¬ 
sisted  on  accompanying  me,  might  understand  that 
language  better  than  he  pretended.  He  told  me,  how¬ 
ever,  that  he  himself  had  fallen  under  suspicion  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  his  dealings  with  me,  which,  in  view  of 
all  he  had  done  for  the  Turks  in  the  past,  he  resented 
bitterly.  It  was  his  opinion  that  the  town  would  be 
stormed  in  the  course  of  the  next  few  days,  and  that  we 
were  both  of  us  in  a  very  dangerous  situation,  from 
which  extreme  prudence  alone  was  likely  to  extricate 
us  safely. 

We  decided  not  to  visit  each  other  again  till  things 
looked  brighter. 

The  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  most  of  our  Arab 
acquaintances  followed  :  even  the  “  broker  ”  who  had 
been  engaged  in  furnishing  my  house  did  not  escape. 
Caprotti  with  much  trouble  succeeded  in  procuring  the 
release  of  one  or  two  of  his  business  friends  who  had 


264  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


been  interned  for  no  other  reason  than  their  connection 
with  him,  and  in  the  case  of  Sheikh  Ahmad,  my  tutor, 
I  myself  also  felt  bound  to  make  a  protest.  I  had 
asked,  as  a  special  favour,  that  he  might  be  allowed  to 
come  to  the  house,  and  on  a  request  being  made,  had 
sent  him  to  the  Hukumeh  (Government  offices).  The 
next  thing  I  heard  about  him  was  that  he  was  in 
prison.  I  wrote,  therefore,  to  the  Mufattish,  explain¬ 
ing,  very  carefully,  the  circumstances  in  which  I  had 
come  to  know  him,  while  pointing  out  that  it  was 
difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  his  connection  with 
me  was  responsible  for  his  arrest,  as  he  was  known  to  be 
well  affected  toward  the  Ottoman  Government.  I  was 
very  anxious  to  get  him  off,  for  he  had  a  wife  and  family 
dependent  on  him,  whom  I  myself,  being  absolutely 
penniless,  could  do  little  to  assist.  Throughout  the 
siege  I  was  myself  dependent  entirely  on  the  generosity 
of  Signor  Caprotti,  for  my  own  money  had  not  arrived 
before  it  began. 

The  formidable-looking  official  envelope  in  which  the 
answer  to  this  communication  arrived  proved  to  contain 
the  following  cryptogram  : 

“  Monsieur, 

“  Je  vous  remerci  qui  nous  envoyez  Ahmad 
Igradi  chez  moi.  II  est  maintenent  a  prison  parce-qui 
il  estait  suiveux  par  le  police. 

“II  est  un  tres  mauvee  et  un  autre  aussi  qui  suiv 
petetre  qui  il  est  aussi  prisone  aujourdhui  mon  cherie  ! 

“  Djamil.” 

I  perceived  that  I  was  dealing  with  a  Young  Turk. 

It  was  quite  plain  that  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to 
make  the  best  of  an  unpleasant  situation.  I  used  to  go 
out  daily  with  my  guardians  for  a  couple  of  hours’ 
exercise,  but  so  conscious  was  I  that  every  word  I  said  to 
them  was  duly  reported  to  the  Mudir,  that  these  walks 
were  more  trying  than  enjoyable.  For  the  rest  of  the 
day  I  found  time  hang  heavily  on  my  hands.  I  had  no 
more  visitors,  for  the  few  friends  of  mine  who  were  not 
in  prison  had  been  warned  not  to  come  to  the  house. 
Nor  did  I  dare  visit  any  one  else  for  fear  of  getting  them 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 


265 


into  trouble.  No  printed  books  were  procurable,  and 
the  Sanaa  manuscript  is  too  difficult  to  decipher  for  the 
reading  of  it  to  be  any  recreation. 

About  the  time  of  the  capture  by  the  Arabs  of  the  Asir 
posts,  I  was  betrayed  into  an  indiscretion  in  the  following 
manner.  Hussein,  the  “  Millie  ”  sergeant  detailed  to 
look  after  me,  was  in  the  habit  of  telling  me  rumours 
that  circulated  in  the  town  regarding  events  outside. 
One  day  he  told  me  that  it  was  certain,  at  last,  that 
Senam  Pasha  had  capitulated.  I  was  more  particularly 
interested  in  the  fate  of  the  place  because  I  believed  that 
the  whole  of  my  baggage  and  money  was  there.  As  I  had 
heard  this  particular  report  at  least  five  times  previously, 
and  it  had  always  been  contradicted  the  next  day,  I 
did  not  attach  much  importance  to  what  the  sergeant 
said,  and  remarked  wearily  and  sarcastically,  “  Yes,  I 
daresay,  and  Constantinople  has  been  taken  by  the 
French.”  This  admittedly  very  feeble  joke  cost  me 
dear.  Off  went  both  “guardians”  to  the  Mudir,  and  that 
afternoon  I  was  informed  that  the  Vali  had  ordered  that 
for  the  future  neither  Ahmad  nor  I  was  to  leave  the 
house. 

Thereupon  I  wrote  to  the  Vali  requesting  an  explanation, 
and  the  instant  removal  of  this  restriction,  and  likewise 
of  the  guard  over  me,  which  I  no  longer  required. 

By  way  of  an  answer  I  received  a  visit  from  the  Mudir — 
not  the  Mufattish  (mon  cheri).  He  explained  that  the 
two  sergeants  had  quite  misunderstood  their  instructions, 
and  that  he  had  decided  to  substitute  for  them  one 
Hamdi  Effendi,  his  interpreter  on  this  occasion,  a  tall 
Turkish  gentleman  who  spoke  Arabic  fluently.  To  this 
of  course  I  could  make  no  objection,  but  in  order  to 
forestall  any  possible  accusation,  I  myself  told  him  of 
“  the  capture  of  Constantinople  ”  and  the  circumstances 
in  which  I  had  been  led  to  make  the  remark.  The 
Mudir  professed  not  to  have  heard  of  this,  laughed 
heartily,  and  assured  me  that  nothing  was  farther  from 
his  mind  than  to  suspect  me  of  anything.  Anxiety  for 
my  safety,  and  that  alone,  was  dictating  the  action  of 
the  authorities  in  this  matter.  We  parted  on  excellent 
terms.  Long  afterwards,  in  Hodeidah,  when  the  British 
Consul  asked  the  Vali  on  what  he  based  his  charge  against 


266  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


me  of  having  had  “  suspicious  dealings  with  natives,” 
this  incident  was  the  only  thing  he  quoted. 

Hamdi  Effendi  accordingly  replaced  the  two  sergeants, 
who  went  off  much  pleased  at  being  relieved  of  a  dangerous 
duty,  for  they  knew  that  if  anything  went  wrong  they 
would  be  held  responsible.  Hussein’s  head  it  appeared 
was  feeling  rather  shaky  on  his  shoulders  as  it  was,  for, 
being  a  “  Millie,”  he  would  certainly  be  put  to  death 
in  the  event  of  the  rebels  taking  Sanaa,  which,  in  common 
with  every  one  at  that  time,  he  considered  only  too 
probable.  He  actually  had  the  nerve  to  ask  me  if  he 
might  take  refuge  in  my  house  if  the  attack  were  success¬ 
ful  and  pass  himself  off  as  one  of  my  servants,  to  which 
impudent  proposition  I  thought  it  well  to  agree,  con¬ 
ditionally. 

Hamdi  Effendi,  who  belonged  to  the  corps  of  civil 
police,  had  been  acting  as  secretary  and  interpreter  to 
the  Mudir.  He  was  well  educated,  for  a  Turk,  and 
therefore  at  first  I  found  him  a  change  distinctly  for  the 
better.  The  foregoing  incident  had  however  accentuated 
the  suspicion  with  which  I  was  regarded,  and  the  sur¬ 
veillance  thenceforward  was  stricter  than  ever.  Another 
policeman  was  told  off  to  accompany  Ahmad  whenever 
he  went  out,  and  yet  another  to  sit  all  day  in  the  kitchen. 
Things  eventually  came  to  a  climax  over  the  question  of 
the  house.  On  one  thing  I  was  absolutely  determined, 
and  prepared  to  fight  about  if  necessary,  and  that  was 
not  to  allow  the  police  in  my  part  of  the  house  except  by 
invitation.  Nothing  gets  on  the  nerves  more  than  being 
perpetually  spied  upon,  and  I  was  resolved  at  any  rate 
to  eat  and  sleep  in  peace.  The  flat  roof  of  my  house 
commanded  a  good  view  of  the  city  and  defences,  and 
having  nothing  better  to  do  I  would  sit  there  for  hours  at 
a  stretch  watching  the  fighting  and  talking  with  Ahmad, 
secure  from  being  overheard,  and  running  no  more  risk 
of  being  shot  than  we  did  downstairs.  This  arrangement 
however  did  not  suit  the  police,  who  came  to  believe  that 
I  used  the  roof  for  the  purpose  of  signalling  to  the  enemy. 
One  evening  Hamdi  turned  up  with  two  more  policemen, 
one  of  whom  was  to  sleep,  he  said,  in  Ahmad’s  room  on 
the  top  floor,  while  the  other  would  occupy  the  roof.  I 
told  them,  simply,  that  I  would  not  have  it,  and  showed 


THE  SIEGE  OF  SANAA 


267 


them  to  the  front  door  without  further  discussion.  They 
had  their  own  room,  I  reminded  them,  and  must  sleep 
there  or  go  away  altogether  :  an  Englishman’s  house 
was  his  castle. 

I  had  studied  the  capitulations  before  setting  out, 
and  knew  well  that  this  procedure  on  their  part  was 
unjustified  unless  they  were  prepared  to  frame  against 
me  some  definite  charge  of  treason. 

About  midnight  I  heard  the  front  door  open  and 
some  one  ascend  the  staircase  with  stealthy  movement. 
After  waiting  a  minute  or  two,  I  went  quietly  upstairs 
myself,  and  came  upon  the  intruder,  one  of  the  policemen, 
in  Ahmad’s  room.  The  latter,  acting  on  instructions 
from  me,  had  said  nothing,  and  was  sitting  up  in  bed 
waiting  events.  The  policeman  did  not  stay  to  discuss 
the  matter  :  he  was  out  of  the  house  in  the  time  allotted 
— ten  seconds — with  the  happy  result  that  the  part 
played  by  Messrs.  Smith  &  Wesson  in  the  proceedings 
was  confined  to  a  mere  demonstration. 

Much  amused,  we  followed  him  downstairs  at  a  more 
leisurely  pace,  “  banged,  barred,  and  bolted  ”  the  front 
door  behind  him,,and  sat  up  playing  cards  for  the  rest 
of  what  I  quite  expected  would  be  our  last  night  of 
even  qualified  freedom.  About  two  a.m.  some  policemen 
came  into  the  courtyard  and  tried  to  force  the  door, 
but  our  barricade  held  fast,  and  they  retired  after  a 
few  ineffectual  efforts.  When  morning  came  all  of  them 
with  the  exception  of  the  sentries  had  disappeared. 

The  aggressive  is  often  the  wisest  course,  and  I  decided 
to  begin  the  inevitable  row  myself.  I  sent  to  the  Mudir 
that  morning  a  communication  “of  so  exceedingly  stiff 
a  nature  ” — I  acknowledge  my  indebtedness — that  it 
could  hardly  fail  to  produce  some  decisive  result.  In 
the  strongest  terms  I  protested  against  this  burglarious 
intrusion  at  dead  of  night,  reminding  him  that  he  would 
have  to  account  later  on  to  the  British  representative 
for  what  had  happened.  I  suggested  a  “  perquisition  ” 
in  my  house,  and  invited  any  examination  the  authorities 
might  consider  adequate  to  allay  their  suspicions. 

This  letter  had  the  desired  effect,  though  it  failed  to 
elicit  a  reply.  All  the  police  were  withdrawn  except 


l 


268  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Hamdi  Effendi.  Ahmad  was  no  longer  accompanied, 
and,  much  to  my  relief,  the  man  disappeared  from  the 
kitchen.  I  had  been  unable  to  object  to  his  presence 
there,  as  it  was  outside  the  house,  but  I  did  not  enjoy  my 
food  till  he  left.  I  had  been  warned  about  this,  and  in 
fact  had  lived  for  some  time  on  hard-boiled  eggs.  It 
is  not  by  any  means  impossible  to  poison  a  boiled  egg, 
but  to  do  it  properly  requires  more  ingenuity  than  the 
ordinary  Turkish  policeman  possesses. 

I  had  no  further  trouble  with  the  authorities  during  the 
siege.  The  sentries  remained  guarding  the  doors  of  my 
house,  and  when  I  wanted  to  go  out  I  had  to  send  for 
Hamdi  Effendi.  There  was  however  nothing  for  it  but 
to  submit  to  these  inconveniences  till  communication 
with  the  outside  world  should  be  restored. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  RELIEF 

The  Ottoman  Government  displayed  great  energy  in 
despatching  from  Europe  the  force  necessary  to  save 
the  province.  Taking  into  account  the  delay  caused  by 
the  inevitable  and  ineffective  quarantine  and  the  difficulty 
experienced  in  procuring  transport  animals  in  adequate 
numbers,  it  speaks  well  for  the  ability  of  the  staff  that 
the  relieving  army  should  have  been  completely  equipped 
and  ready  to  march  from  the  coast  six  weeks  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  revolt. 

The  main  body  of  the  rebel  army  besieging  Sanaa 
drew  off  about  the  middle  of  February  to  encounter 
Izzet  Pasha’s  force,  which,  it  was  reported,  was  even  then 
advancing  from  Hodeidah.  Sufficient  only  remained  to 
hold  the  garrison  in  check,  and  it  became  evident  that 
all  fear  of  an  assault  was  over  for  the  time  being  at  any 
rate.  Unless  Izzet  Pasha  suffered  a  reverse,  an  early 
relief  was  to  be  anticipated. 

This  prospect  was  hailed  with  satisfaction  by  many 
people,  but  none  more  so  than  myself.  So  long  as  there 
was  a  chance  of  the  place  being  taken  by  storm  it  was 
to  my  interest  that  the  siege  should  continue,  for  that 
eventuality,  assuming  that  I  came  to  no  harm  in  the 
fighting,  would  have  suited  my  plans  better  than  any¬ 
thing  else  that  could  possibly  have  happened.  The 
chance  gone  by,  the  sooner  the  siege  came  to  an  end  the 
better  for  me.  I  have  never  been  so  bored  in  my  life 
as  I  was  during  February  and  March  1911.  Except  for 
my  daily  outing  with  Hamdi  Effendi,  I  had  no  one  to 
talk  to  except  Ahmad,  and  nothing  to  read  but  an  Arabic 
book  called  “  The  Scent  of  the  Yemen,”  and  some  back 
numbers  of  “  L ’Illustration  ”  kindly  sent  me  by  Signor 


269 


270  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Caprotti.  No  chessmen  were  procurable,  but  I  got  some 
cards  and  tried  to  teach  Ahmad  piquet.  He  played  so 
badly,  however,  perpetually  revoking  and  declaring 
things  he  had  not  got,  that  we  gave  it  up  and  took  to 
draw  poker,  with  matches  for  chips  at  two  piastres  a 
hundred.  At  this  game  he  proved  himself  much  more 
adept,  besides  having  the  luck  of  Iblis  himself.  It  was 
a  good  thing  for  me  that  we  were  not  playing  for  higher 
points.  I  once  dealt  him  a  straight  flush,  cold,  to  the  knave 
of  diamonds ;  but  I  have  given  up  telling  people  about 
this  remarkable  occurrence  because  my  faith  in  human 
nature  was  badly  shaken  by  my  doing  so  on  the  way 
home  to  England.  We  were  just  leaving  Naples,  and  as 
many  of  the  passengers  had  disembarked  there,  the 
tables  had  been  rearranged,  and  I  found  myself  next  at 
dinner  to  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  was  only  slightly 
acquainted.  The  conversation  turning  on  card  games, 
I  related  to  him  this  very  interesting  experience.  “  I 
have  only  seen  two  straight  flushes  dealt  cold  in  my 
life,”  said  he  ;  “  that  was  at  Johannesburg  just  before  the 

war.  Strange  to  say  both  were  in  the  same  deal.”  I 
gasped,  and  remarked  that  it  must  have  been  a  very 
expensive  game  for  one  of  the  players.  “  Indeed  it 

was, ”  said  he,  “  and  very  expensive  for  me  too  ;  I  held 
four  aces.” 

In  such  conditions  one  might  almost  be  excused  for 
taking  to  drink.  There  was  no  fear  of  our  doing  that,  for 
the  reason  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  hold  of  any, 
owing  to  the  sentries.  For  about  a  month  I  went  without 
any  at  all ;  then  we  contrived  to  make  friends  with  some 
of  the  sentries,  and  got  in  some  red  wine  and  mastic, 
which  Suleiman  the  cook  bought  from  a  Jew.  We  did 
take  to  hashish-smoking  on  one  occasion  in  the  following 
manner.  While  at  lunch  one  day  I  was  discussing  with 
Ahmad  the  use  of  that  drug  in  the  East  from  various 
standpoints,  therapeutical,  physiological,  and  religious, 
when  an  important  discrepancy  appeared  between  the 
account  given  of  its  properties  in  the  “  Materia  Medica  ” 
and  the  experience  of  a  friend  of  Ahmad’s  who  had  been 
addicted  to  it  for  the  last  thirty  years.  I  could  not 
believe  that  the  “  Materia  Medica  ”  was  wrong,  but 
there  was  open  to  us  the  most  simple  and  scientific  of 


Ahmad 


THE  RELIEF 


271 


all  methods  of  deciding  such  a  point — that  of  actual 
experiment.  I  therefore  ordered  Ahmad  to  go  out  and 
get  some  at  once.  “  How  much  ?  ”  he  asked.  “  Indeed,” 
I  replied,  “  I  have  no  idea  ;  but  get  enough.”  He  went 
out  to  the  market  and  returned  with,  I  should  say,  about 
half  an  ounce  of  some  stuff  looking  like  dried  clover 
heads,  which  had  cost  four  piastres,  and  was  to  be  mixed, 
so  the  Jew  who  sold  it  had  told  him,  with  a  little  tobacco 
and  smoked  in  a  “  Mada  ”  (water  pipe).  This  amount 
would  be  sufficient  to  produce  the  happiest  effects  on  at 
least  two  persons.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  that 
Jew  allowed  a  perverted  sense  of  humour  to  get  the  better 
of  his  cupidity  on  this  occasion,  or  perhaps  the  little 
idiot  Ahmad  neglected  to  make  it  clear  that  we  had 
never  smoked  the  stuff  before.  After  lunch  we  filled  up 
the  Mada  in  the  manner  directed,  and  sat  on  the  couch 
pulling  at  it  alternately. 

For  a  long  time  nothing  happened,  and  we  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  Jew  must  have  played  us  some 
scurvy  trick — given  us  the  wrong  stuff,  or  an  insufficient 
quantity — for  I  was  sure  that  for  four  piastres  one  ought 
to  get  enough  hashish  to  have  some  effect  anyway. 
“  Just  like  a  Jew,”  I  said,  and  curiously  enough  this 
reflection  struck  us  both  as  irresistibly  funny,  and  we 
burst  out  laughing.  More,  we  were  unable  to  help 
laughing,  and  went  on  till  cyanosis  with  threatening 
asphyxia  caused  us  to  stop  exhausted,  and  utterly  unable 
to  recollect  what  the  joke  had  been  about.  These  strange 
paroxysms  continued  at  intervals,  interrupted  by  seem¬ 
ingly  interminable  reveries  on  subjects  most  strange 
and  diverse.  Among  the  curious  effects  the  drug  was 
producing,  the  retardation  of  time  was  the  most  strik¬ 
ing  ;  it  seemed  hours  since  we  had  begun  smoking, 
and  an  ordinary  action,  such  as  raising  the  hand  to  the 
head,  seemed  to  take  several  minutes.  I  became  con¬ 
scious  of  the  separation  of  my  thoughts  into  several 
distinct  strata.  In  the  uppermost  I  was  reflecting  that 
I  was  rather  a  fool  to  take  the  stuff  at  all,  and  that  the 
dose  must  have  been  excessive  ;  in  another  I  was  wander¬ 
ing  through  an  endless  series  of  colonnades,  each  con¬ 
nected  with  the  next  by  a  flight  of  marble  steps  flanked 
by  dark  green  bushes  with  huge  flowers  of  vivid  blue. 


272  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 

while  in  yet  another  stratum  something  was  causing  me 
to  laugh  helplessly  and  idiotically  at  nothing  at  all. 
A  sort  of  subconscious  sanity  remains  intact,  so  that 
the  smoker  can  at  any  moment  pull  himself  together 
by  an  effort  of  will,  and  regain  temporarily  perfect  control 
of  his  movements  and  speech,  though  the  highest  facul¬ 
ties,  such  as  judgment,  probably  remain  clouded.  Just 
before  we  went  to  sleep  I  was  able  to  note  that  Ahmad’s 
pupils  were  widely  dilated,  and  that  my  heart’s  action 
was  slightly  accelerated,  with  a  tendency  to  the  production 
of  extra  systoles.  I  wrote  this  down  with  a  view  to 
seeing  later  how  my  handwriting  was  affected.  It 
turned  out  to  be  no  worse  than  usual. 

We  did  not  wake  for  many  hours,  and  were  by  no 
means  sober  when  we  did.  Hashish  differs  from  alcohol 
in  this  way  also  :  the  intoxication  it  produces  lasts 
much  longer,  and  is  not  dissipated  by  sleep.  It  was 
twenty-four  hours  at  least  before  we  got  rid  of  the 
effects  ;  but  of  course  we  had  taken  a  large  overdose. 

During  the  month  of  March  all  kinds  of  rumours  were 
current  in  the  town  as  to  the  progress  of  the  relieving 
army,  the  battles  that  were  being  fought,  and  the 
enormous  losses  the  Arabs  were  suffering.  We  made 
friends  with  one  of  the  sentries,  a  Syrian  Arab,  who 
came  on  duty  twice  every  twenty-four  hours.  This 
man  detested  the  Turks,  and  harboured  some  private 
grudge  against  Hamdi  Effendi,  which  made  him  willing 
to  be  of  what  service  he  could  to  us.  I  found  him  of 
great  use  in  several  ways,  not  least  among  them  that  I 
could  get  from  him  reliable  information  as  to  the  orders 
issued  to  the  troops,  the  number  of  Turkish  casualties, 
and  other  matters  that  interested  me.  The  worst  thing 
about  compulsory  service  is  the  inevitable  inclusion  in 
the  ranks  of  some  men  disloyal  to  the  country  they  serve. 
This  is  more  especially  so  in  the  Turkish  army,  which 
contains  men  of  many  different  races  and  creeds,  some  of 
them  avowedly  hostile  to  Ottoman  domination.  No 
Christian  or  Jewish  soldiers,  by  the  way,  are  sent  to  the 
Yemen. 

The  Turkish  army,  excellent  as  it  is  in  some  respects, 
ought,  considering  the  immense  reserves  of  fighting 
men  it  has  to  draw  upon,  to  be  still  better. 


THE  RELIEF 


273 


The  relations  between  officers  and  men  are  not  always 
satisfactory.  Little  or  no  distinction  is  drawn  between 
commissioned  and  non-commissioned  rank.  Imprison¬ 
ment  and  even  corporal  punishment  is  inflicted  quite 
impartially  on  both.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  the 
colonel  on  parade  to  box  the  ears  of  his  junior  officers. 
Mohammed  Ali  Pasha  was  particularly  fond  of  ad¬ 
ministering  correction  to  his  subordinates  in  this  manner. 
When  he  arrived  at  the  coast  after  the  siege  he  found 
that  no  proper  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the 
embarkation  of  some  troops  he  desired  to  send  to  Geezan. 
He  sent  for  the  port  captain  and  there  and  then,  standing 
on  the  quay,  smacked  his  face. 

Another  great  mistake  is  made  in  allowing  the  Vali  and 
other  high  officials  to  make  appointments  to  or  dismissals 
from  the  subordinate  posts  at  their  own  caprice.  Not 
only  does  this  practice  lead  to  corruption,  but  the  officer 
holding  such  an  appointment  dare  not  in  many  cases 
exercise  his  authority  for  fear  of  incurring  the  enmity 
of  some  one  who  may,  through  his  own  dismissal,  the 
next  day  be  in  a  position  to  retaliate  on  him. 

Since  the  revolution  the  officers  of  the  army  have 
become  divided  into  two  distinct  classes,  the  one  con¬ 
sisting  of  officers  of  the  old  regime ,  generally  illiterate 
men  who,  starting  from  the  ranks,  have  won  their 
positions  by  hard  work  and  soldierly  qualities  ;  the  other, 
the  “  Maktabie  ”  (Collegian)  class,  consisting  of  men 
educated  at  the  military  college,  who  have  passed  the 
required  examinations.  After  the  deposition  of  Abdul 
Hamid,  many  officers  of  the  higher  ranks  were  dismissed  and 
others  were  reduced  in  grade.  Some  unfortunate  officers 
went  from  Major-General  to  Second  Lieutenant.  This 
was  not  done  by  way  of  punishment,  but  as  a  necessary 
preliminary  to  the  reorganization  of  the  Army.  Izzet 
Pasha  himself  had  gone  down  a  step,  and  so  had  the  old 
Albanian  Pasha  who  would  have  it  that  I  was  a  rogue. 

Things  like  these  do  not  make  for  good  discipline  or 
good  feeling  in  an  army.  The  old-fashioned  officer  who  has 
spent  his  life  in  the  field  does  not  relish  being  ordered 
about  by  the  Maktabie  many  years  his  junior,  whose 
knowledge  of  war  is  “  made  in  Germany.”  He  does 
not  say  much  about  it,  for  the  Turkish  peasant  is  a  man 

18 


274  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


of  few  words,  but  he  does  not  love  the  new  regime  any 
the  more  for  the  way  he  has  been  treated.  The  fact  is 
that  the  44  friends  of  progress,”  as  Abdul  Wahid  calls  them, 
have,  as  usual,  rather  overdone  it.  However  scientific 
war  may  have  become  it  can  still  no  more  be  taught  by 
books  alone  than  can  violin-playing.  If  I  were  raising  a 
regiment  in  Turkey  it  would  be  from  the  rough-bearded, 
unkempt-looking  ruffians  with  dirty  uniforms,  down-at- 
heel  slippers,  and  heavy,  curved  swords  of  a  pattern  long 
obsolete,  that  may  be  seen  in  any  garrison  town  sitting  in 
the  dingy  cafes  sucking  water  pipes  and  playing  back¬ 
gammon,  that  I  should  choose  my  own  officers. 

The  state  of  affairs  is  rendered  worse  by  the  fact  that 
in  a  place  like  Sanaa  there  are  no  amusements  whatever 
for  officers  or  men  in  their  leisure  hours.  Away  from 
their  families — for  only  the  rich  can  afford  to  bring  them 
— they  have  nothing  to  occupy  their  thoughts,  no  games, 
theatres,  clubs,  or  distractions  of  any  sort,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  scandal,  quarrelling,  and  vice  of  all  sorts 
should  result  from  ennui . 

During  the  siege,  some  of  the  more  thoughtful  among 
the  officers,  those  who  had  been  to  Europe  and  used  their 
eyes  while  they  were  there,  perceived  the  importance  of 
this  point,  and  tried  their  best  to  get  up  games  for  the  men. 
A  few  energetic  spirits  do  not  easily  leaven  a  mass  of 
apathy,  but  still  they  accomplished  something. 

A  few  wrestling  tournaments  were  organized,  and  a 
curious  game  at  which  the  players  squat  in  a  circle  facing 
towards  the  centre  while  one  of  the  number,  armed  with 
a  44  rope’s  end,”  walks  round  outside  till,  choosing  his 
victim,  he  hits  him  as  hard  as  he  can  across  the  back. 
He  then  has  to  throw  down  the  rope  and  run  once  round 
the  entire  circle  and  squat  down  in  his  place  before  his 
enemy,  who  picks  it  up  and  pursues,  can  catch  him. 
The  latter  then  takes  the  rope  and  the  game  continues. 
It  does  not  sound  a  very  amusing  game,  and  it  is  in  fact 
rather  painful,  but  the  soldiers  love  it,  and  it  goes  on 
to  the  accompaniment  of  shrieks  of  merriment,  especially 
when  some  senior  officer  good-humouredly  takes  part 
for  a  little. 

The  garrison  possessed  a  band  which  played  in  the 
citadel  every  evening  at  eight  o’clock  for  about  half  an 


275 


THE  RELIEF 

hour,  and  at  any  other  time,  particularly  during  a  battle, 
when  it  was  considered  that  a  little  music  would  cheer 
things  up.  It  was  not  a  good  band,  and  its  repertoire 
was  very  limited,  but  we  appreciated  it  enormously. 

Towards  the  end  of  March  it  was  made  known  officially 
that  the  rebels  had  been  driven  from  the  Menakha  position 
with  great  loss,  and  that  Izzet  Pasha’s  advance  guard 
had  reached  Sook-el-Khamis.  This  news  was  confirmed 
by  a  sudden  activity  on  the  part  of  Mohammed  Ali 
Pasha,  our  commander,  who  evidently  intended,  by 
creating  a  diversion  from  Sanaa,  to  facilitate  the  re¬ 
lieving  army’s  advance  over  the  difficult  ground  still 
intervening.  A  rumour  besides  was  gaining  ground  that 
the  relieving  army  had  suffered  a  serious  reverse,  and 
been  compelled  to  return  to  the  coast.  It  was  no  doubt 
with  a  view  to  giving  the  lie  to  this  and  similar  stories 
current,  that  the  Turks  engaged  in  a  succession  of  sorties. 
The  first  of  these  took  place  on  March  20.  A  couple 
of  batteries,  with  an  infantry  battalion  and  some  machine 
guns,  occupied  the  “  donkey’s  back,”  a  ridge  lying  east 
of  the  town,  and  shelled  the  enemy  in  Shaoob  throughout 
most  of  the  day.  The  guns  must  have  fired  quite  a 
thousand  rounds,  but  the  effect  on  the  houses  and  towers 
was  surprisingly  small,  for  the  common  shell  passed  clean 
through  them  without  bursting.  Howitzers  with  high 
explosives  would  have  been  very  effective  had  the  Turks 
possessed  any  at  the  time.  Towards  the  end  of  the  day 
the  Arabs  made  a  counter-attack  from  the  east,  out  of 
sight  of  the  town.  We  heard  heavy  rifle  and  machine- 
gun  fire,  which  lasted  for  some  time.  The  force  returned 
at  nightfall,  having  suffered,  so  we  heard,  a  loss  in 
killed  of  about  twenty  men.  This  is  a  subject,  how¬ 
ever,  on  which  the  Turks  are  always  very  reticent* 
Every  precaution  is  taken  to  prevent  the  extent  of  their 
casualties  becoming  known.  The  dead  are  either  buried 
where  they  fall,  or  smuggled  out  to  the  cemetery  after 
dark,  and  the  wounded  are  kept  out  of  sight  as  much 
as  possible.  Official  accounts,  especially  when  furnished 
to  newspapers,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  are  quite  un¬ 
trustworthy.  The  Arabs  were  reported,  as  usual,  to  have 
lost  very  heavily,  but  this  was  evidently  a  pure  conjecture, 
as  to  the  truth  of  which  I  personally  was  rather  sceptical. 


276  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Certainly  if  any  one  was  injured  by  the  Turkish  time 
shrapnel  it  can  only  have  been  by  accident,  for  they 
burst  it  at  an  altitude  at  which  it  is  only  effective  as  a 
firework  display. 

The  second  sortie  took  place  a  week  later.  A  force  of 
about  the  same  strength  advanced  some  little  distance 
to  the  south,  shelled  the  enemy  out  of  a  position  they 
were  holding  on  a  ridge  overlooking  the  town  from  that 
quarter,  and  bombarded  the  village  of  Haddah,  which 
the  infantry  entered  later  after  some  hand-to-hand 
fighting.  The  Turkish  force  had  to  retire  about  midday 
in  somewhat  of  a  hurry,  having  been  outflanked  by  the 
enemy,  who  had  re-occupied  in  considerable  force  the  ridge 
taken  earlier  in  the  day.  Some  of  the  soldiers  brought 
back  with  them  heads  of  the  Arabs  who  had  been 
killed,  which,  stuck  on  bayonets,  they  paraded  round 
the  town,  to  the  great  edification  of  all  beholders. 
Hamdi  Effendi  was  careful  to  explain  to  me  that  the 
number  of  these  did  not  represent  the  total  “  bag,”  but 
only  such  of  the  enemy  as  had  been  slain  in  single 
combat  and  a  Varme  blanche. 

The  Turks  made  their  third  sortie  on  March  29.  This 
was  of  exceptional  interest  to  me  because  it  was  the 
most  serious  engagement  of  the  siege,  and  I  was  able  to 
witness  it  from  a  commanding  position  within  a  few 
hundred  yards  of  the  actual  fighting,  while  yet  in¬ 
curring  little  more  danger  than  one  does  in  watching  a 
bull-fight. 

On  this  occasion  the  Turks  made  a  determined  effort 
to  drive  the  enemy  from  Shaoob.  Their  batteries  were 
posted  on  the  “donkey’s  back”  at  daybreak,  and  aided 
by  the  guns  of  the  citadel  and  those  over  the  gates  on 
that  side  of  the  city,  bombarded  the  position.  Hamdi 
Effendi  took  Ahmad  and  myself  on  to  the  roof  of  the 
Government  buildings,  where  we  found  ourselves  about 
midway  between  the  Turkish  artillery  position  and  its 
target,  and  only  just  out  of  the  line  of  fire  of  the  citadel 
guns.  This  roof,  like  the  minarets  of  the  Bakili  Mosque, 
and  indeed  every  other  point  of  vantage,  was  crowded 
with  spectators.  The  streets  were  empty  and  the 
shops  were  shut*  for  all  Sanaa  had  gone  to  see  the  sport. 
Though  within  easy  range  the  Arabs  refrained  from 


THE  RELIEF 


277 


firing  on  these  closely  packed  groups,  for  the  reason  that 
among  them  were  many  Arabs  favourable  to  their  cause. 

About  noon  the  artillery  redoubled  their  efforts,  the 
bombardment  became  fast  and  furious,  the  houses 
and  towers  began  to  come  tumbling  down,  and  the 
drifting  balls  of  white  smoke  made  by  the  bursting  time- 
shrapnel  filled  the  air.  Under  cover  of  this  about  1,000 
infantry  advanced  down  the  ridge,  and  in  spite  of  the 
heavy  rifle-fire  with  which  the  Arabs  received  them, 
succeeded  in  carrying  the  line  of  trees  and  the  buildings 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  village.  Unluckily  a  shell  too 
well  placed  caused  the  collapse  of  a  very  tall  tower, 
which  had  already  been  hit  many  times  just  after  it  had 
been  captured  by  the  infantry,  and  several  of  the  brave 
soldiers  were  crushed  in  the  ruins.  This  tragic  accident 
was  no  one’s  fault,  for  it  is  far  better  to  risk  these  things 
happening  than  for  the  guns  to  cease  fire  just  when 
their  support  is  most  wanted.  Another  regiment  now 
sallied  from  the  Shaoob  gate  and  made  a  determined 
attack  from  that  quarter.  The  band  struck  up  a  patriotic 
air,  the  bugles  summoned  the  troops  to  advance,  the 
guns  fired  salvoes,  and  the  musketry  fire  swelled  to  a 
continuous  roar.  The  Arabs  stood  their  ground  bravely 
among  the  trees  and  ruined  buildings,  and  succeeded  in 
holding  their  own,  so  that  before  sundown  the  Turks 
had  to  retire,  leaving  not  a  few  of  their  number  on  the 
field.  The  Arab  losses  must  have  been  very  heavy,  and 
would  have  been  much  more  so  could  the  Turkish  ar¬ 
tillery  commander  have  been  persuaded  to  stick  to 
percussion  fuses  until  he  had  taught  his  men  the  proper 
use  of  the  other  sort.  Parties  of  the  Arabs  were  found 
roped  together — the  idea  of  this  being  that  no  one  man 
in  the  gang  can  then  give  way  to  cowardice  without  his 
comrades  becoming  aware  of  it. 

The  last  fighting  took  place  two  days  before  the  relief. 
The  rebels  were  holding  the  Asr  ridge  in  force,  and  were 
supposed  to  be  intending  to  dispute  its  possession  with 
Izzet  Pasha’s  army,  which  was  now  at  hand.  With  a 
view  to  making  a  diversion  a  force  of  about  1,500 
infantry  with  eight  guns  issued  from  Sanaa  to  engage 
the  enemy  posted  in  a  village  and  grove  of  trees  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  Hodeidah  gate.  After  a  bom- 


278  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


bardment  with  shrapnel  lasting  for  some  hours,  which  I 
should  say  was  entirely  ineffective,  the  infantry  attacked, 
but  could  make  no  headway.  The  whole  force  returned 
to  Sanaa  before  midday. 

That  afternoon  and  during  the  following  day  we  heard 
the  booming  of  distant  artillery  fire  from  the  direction  of 
Senam  Pasha,  and  knew  that  relief  was  near.  On  the 
morning  of  April  5,  after  a  short  engagement  on  the 
Asr  ridge,  the  Arabs  abandoned  all  their  positions  and 
retired  northwards,  and  on  the  evening  of  that  day 
General  Izzet  Pasha  himself,  with  the  eight  regiments 
composing  his  advance  guard,  entered  the  town. 

A  triumphal  arch,  decorated  with  red  cloth  and  flowers, 
had  been  run  up  the  day  before  in  the  square  before  the 
Sabah  Gate,  that  is  the  gate  in  the  old  wall  connecting 
Sanaa  with  Bir-el-Azab.  It  bore  that  text  from  the 
Koran  which  may  often  be  seen  engraved  on  sword- 
blades  and  other  weapons,  “  Nasrun  min  Allahi  wa 
fathun  kareeb  ”  (Help  from  God  and  near  victory). 
Great  were  the  rejoicings.  All  Sanaa  in  its  best  clothes 
came  out  in  the  rain  to  welcome  the  General,  every  house 
in  the  town  was  illuminated  that  night,  except  my  own. 
In  spite  of  the  downpour  the  streets  were  full  of  people 
“  Mafficking  55  till  a  late  hour,  for  the  “state  of  siege” 
was  at  an  end.  I  would  not  allow  any  outward  signs  of 
rejoicing,  on  the  ground  that  as  British  subjects  we  were 
neutrals.  In  order  however  not  to  let  this  great  oc¬ 
casion  pass  uncelebrated,  I  gave  Ahmad  enough  money 
to  buy  the  best  supper  that  Sanaa  could  provide  for 
Hamdi  Effendi,  himself,  and  the  other  servants,  and  I 
further  presented  them  with  several  bottles  of  wine  and 
some  mastic.  Hamdi  Effendi,  however,  was  past  eating 
anything  long  before  supper  time,  and  so  was  the  cook  : 
“the  Napani”  could  not  be  found,  and  Ahmad,  anxious 
no  doubt  that  my  feelings  should  not  suffer,  did  his  best 
to  dispose  of  the  whole  lot  himself.  The  lecture  I  read 
him  the  following  day  on  the  beauty  of  moderation  in 
all  things,  more  especially  in  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquor, 
would  perhaps  have  made  a  greater  impression  on  him 
had  not  the  recollection  of  our  unfortunate  experiment 
with  the  hashish  been  so  recent  in  his  mind. 

The  morning  following  the  relief  was  devoted  to  the 


THE  RELIEF 


279 


obsequies  of  some  officers  who  had  been  killed  the  day 
before.  In  the  afternoon  a  grand  review  of  the  garrison 
and  the  newly  arrived  troops  was  held  in  the  square 
before  the  Government  buildings.  When  all  the  regiments 
had  marched  past  a  “  pow-wow  55  among  the  officers 
was  held,  and  Izzet  Pasha  made  a  patriotic  speech. 

We  heard  now  for  the  first  time  the  true  account  of 
what  had  taken  place  elsewhere  in  the  Yemen,  for  though 
we  had  been  the  whole  time  in  heliographic  communica¬ 
tion  with  Hodeidah,  no  news  had  been  allowed  to  leak 
out,  except  what  was  favourable  to  the  Turks.  It 
seemed  that  the  relieving  force  had  encountered  much 
less  opposition  than  was  anticipated.  There  had  been 
a  certain  amount  of  fighting  round  about  Menakha  and 
many  villages  had  been  destroyed,  but  the  total  loss  in 
killed  on  the  way  up  did  not  exceed  eighty  men.  Cholera 
had  broken  out  soon  after  the  first  troops  arrived,  and 
had  followed  the  army  up  country.  Fifteen  men  a  day 
were  dying  at  Menakha  and  a  quarantine  was  to  be 
established  at  Sook-el-Khamis  to  prevent,  if  possible, 
the  disease  reaching  Sanaa. 

The  towns  of  Yerim  and  Ibb  had  been  captured  by 
the  rebels,  but  the  Turkish  garrisons  were  holding  out  in 
their  forts.  At  the  first  named  some  guns  were  lost, 
the  town  was  plundered,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants 
were  massacred. 

I  heard  later,  from  a  fairly  reliable  source,  that  from 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities  up  to  the  relief  of  Sanaa 
the  Arabs  took  in  all  six  hundred  and  twenty  Turkish 
prisoners,  twenty-two  pieces  of  artillery,  and  two  machine 
guns.*  Most  of  these  losses  took  place  at  the  small 
detached  posts  scattered  throughout  the  Yemen.  The 
guns  and  most  of  the  prisoners  were  at  Khania,  a  place 
about  five  days’  journey  to  the  north  of  Sanaa.  It 
seemed  likely  that  they  would  be  removed  to  Shaharah, 
the  Imam’s  stronghold,  in  face  of  the  Turkish  advance. 
The  prisoners  were  being  treated  with  consideration  and, 
but  for  the  incident  at  Yerim,  no  outrages  had  been  com¬ 
mitted  by  the  rebels. 

The  post  at  Senam  Pasha  had  held  out  to  the  last. 

*  I  do  not  guarantee  the  accuracy  of  these  figures.  The  number 
pf  guns  taken  may  have  been  less  than  stated. 


280  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Though  the  garrison,  which  numbered  less  than  seventy 
men,  had  suffered  much  from  scarcity  of  food  and  was 
short  of  ammunition,  it  had  none  the  less  refused  to 
capitulate  even  on  the  most  liberal  terms.  Harassed 
by  a  heavy  though  ineffective  bombardment,  and  con¬ 
stantly  assailed  by  vastly  superior  numbers,  surrender 
might  have  been  held  excusable.  The  successful  defence 
of  this  little  post  reflects  great  credit  on  the  officers  and 
men  who  took  part  in  it. 

The  condition  of  the  troops  and  of  their  equipment, 
when  they  arrived,  was  good,  except  for  the  most  im¬ 
portant  part  of  a  soldier’s  outfit,  after  his  rifle — his  boots. 
Many  men  at  the  review  limped  past  with  their  feet 
wrapped  in  rags.  This  is  a  matter  in  which  all  Govern¬ 
ments,  our  own  included,  are  much  too  inclined  to  make 
a  false  economy,  and  forget  the  truism  about  the  strength 
of  any  chain.  To  my  mind  the  most  expensive  boots 
obtainable,  made  to  measure,  are  not  too  good  for  the 
soldier  about  to  take  the  field.  If  they  cost  five  pounds 
a  pair  it  wall  none  the  less  come  much  cheaper  in  the 
end  than  having  the  marching  powers  of  the  army  im¬ 
paired  by  a  large  number  of  men  with  sore  feet.  No 
soldier  need  apologize  for  insisting,  in  and  out  of  season, 
that  it  is  forethought  in  matters  of  this  kind  that  wins 
the  day.  The  greatest  general  of  all  time  said  that  the 
only  figure  of  speech  of  any  practical  value  was  repetition. 

Having  ventured  in  these  pages  on  certain  criticisms 
of  the  Turkish  army,  I  should  like  to  say  here  that  as  a 
fighting  machine  I  consider  it  second  to  one  only  in 
Europe.  All  its  defects  of  bad  armament,  bad  training, 
and  bad  administration  are  made  up  for  by  the  excellent 
quality  of  the  soldiers  themselves.  Seen  in  peace-time 
it  is  an  object  for  derision  ;  in  war  for  admiration. 

General  Izzet  Pasha  had  been  appointed  Commander- 
in-Chief  with  plenipotentiary  powers,  but  Mohammed 
Ali  Pasha  retained  his  position  as  Governor-General,  and 
was  not,  in  theory,  superseded.  This  state  of  affairs 
seemed  likely  to  cause  difficulties,  and  so  it  did.  In 
selecting  this  officer  for  the  supreme  command  the 
Porte  acted  wisely,  for  he  is  a  good  soldier,  with  ex¬ 
perience  of  the  Yemen,  and  popular  with  the  Arabs. 
Ahmad  Feizi  Pasha  was  getting  too  old,  and  Yusuf 


THE  RELIEF 


281 


Pasha,  whose  very  name  was  a  terror  to  the  Imam,  had, 
unfortunately,  been  hanged  by  the  Young  Turks  some 
time  previously. 

The  day  after  the  relief  I  visited  Signor  Caprotti,  who 
was  in  great  spirits,  and  thought  that  our  troubles  were 
over.  Izzet  Pasha  was  a  personal  friend  of  his,  and  a 
man  far  too  well  informed  and  in  touch  with  Western 
Europe  to  harbour  any  such  ridiculous  suspicions  as 
those  from  which  we  had  both  suffered  so  much  during 
the  siege.  He  advised  me  to  wait  till  I  could  com¬ 
municate  with  the  Consul,  and  then,  seeking  an  interview 
with  the  General,  to  explain  matters  frankly  to  him. 
It  is  probable  that,  but  for  the  peculiar  arrangement 
which  left  it  uncertain  who  was  actually  responsible  for 
the  civil  administration  of  the  province,  the  discreditable 
and  ridiculous  incidents  that  followed  would  never  have 
occurred.  The  Turks,  however,  like  the  Chinese  attach 
great  importance  to  “  saving  face.”  When  it  has  been 
decided  to  supersede  some  one  in  command  the  central 
authorities  try  to  avoid  doing  it  directly  and  in  so  many 
words.  The  officer  to  be  supplanted  is  sent  on  an  ex¬ 
pedition  and  then  suddenly  recalled  to  Stamboul,  or 
some  similar  device  is  employed  to  make  it  appear  that 
he  relinquishes  his  appointment  for  any  reason  rather 
than  the  real  one. 

I  was  disappointed  to  find  that  the  mail  which  had 
been  delayed  so  long  and  defended  so  gallantly  in  Senam 
Pasha  contained  no  letters  for  me,  nor  was  my  baggage 
with  it  as  I  had  thought.  I  wrote  at  once  to  the  Consul, 
informing  him  of  all  that  had  taken  place  since  my 
arrival,  and  asking  him  to  use  his  good  offices  with  Izzet 
Pasha,  who  represented,  or  so  I  thought,  the  highest 
authority.  On  receiving  this  letter  the  Consul  sent  a 
long  telegram  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  in  which,  after 
congratulating  him  on  his  successful  operations,  he 
complained  of  the  inhospitable  conduct  of  the  authorities 
towards  myself,  explained  exactly  who  I  was  and  what 
my  intentions  were,  and  gave  him  every  official  assurance 
that  I  was  not  an  agent  of  the  British  Government,  nor 
had  my  presence  in  Sanaa  the  smallest  political  signifi¬ 
cance.  He  sent  this  telegram  in  duplicate  to  Izzet 
Pasha  and  myself. 


282  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Immediately  on  receiving  it  I  wrote  asking  for  an 
interview,  which  was  promptly  granted.  Accordingly  I 
visited  the  Pasha  at  his  private  house  in  Bir-el-Azab,  and 
was  courteously  received.  He  seemed  to  me  a  good- 
humoured  personage,  something  of  a  vieux  marcheur, 
yet  business-like  and  of  a  quick  appreciation.  I  think 
he  disliked  me  at  first  sight,  and  that  I  forfeited  the 
remnants  of  his  good  opinion  when  I  told  him  that  I  did 
not  play  bridge.  This,  I  admit,  did  seem  rather  in¬ 
credible  in  an  Englishman  :  but  I  simply  cannot  stick 
the  game  unless  one  plays  for  high  points,  and  if  it  is  a 
case  of  gambling  I  prefer  poker  or  baccarat.  None  the 
less  he  listened  very  carefully  to  my  story  and  compared 
it  with  the  Consul’s  telegram.  He  admitted  that  sus¬ 
picions  had  been  entertained,  reminded  me  of  the  very 
unusual  circumstances,  and  promised  to  do  all  he  could, 
though  of  course,  he  said,  he  could  not  interfere  with 
the  civil  authorities.  Much  puzzled,  I  responded  that 
I  made  no  complaints  whatever,  and  quite  understood 
that  in  war-time  all  measures  are  justifiable  that  are 
deemed  necessary,  whether  they  actually  are  so  or  not, 
and  that  I  was  sure  that  a  word  from  His  Excellency  would 
put  everything  right. 

In  answering  the  Consul’s  telegram  Izzet  Pasha  denied 
that  any  suspicions  were  entertained.  All  that  I  com¬ 
plained  of  had  been  done  for  my  own  protection  and 
so  on  ! — the  old  gag  that  I  was  beginning  to  know  by 
heart. 

Time  passed  and  nothing  happened  :  the  sentries  on 
my  house  were  not  removed,  and  the  intolerable  nuisance 
of  being  accompanied  everywhere  I  went  by  the  spy, 
Hamdi  Effendi,  continued.  It  was  universally  held  that 
I  was  a  prisoner,  and  when  the  other  prisoners  were 
released  surprise  was  expressed  that  I  should  remain 
under  arrest.  In  fact  things  got  worse  in  some  ways, 
for  the  regiment  which  had  formed  the  guard  over  my 
house  during  the  siege  was  sent  to  Senam  Pasha,  and 
another  took  its  place  composed  of  a  very  different  lot 
of  men  from  the  first,  with  many  of  whom  Ahmad  had 
made  friends.  The  sentries  found  by  this  new  regiment 
did  not  seem  capable  of  comprehending  their  orders. 
They  would  prevent  the  servants  entering  or  leaving  the 


THE  RELIEF 


283 


house  and  order  us  off  the  roof.  One  went  so  far  as  to 
throw  stones  at  us  when  this  order  was  not  obeyed.  The 
more  I  complained  the  worse  these  annoyances  became. 

During  the  siege  I  had  put  up  with  all  this  as  patiently 
as  might  be,  but  the  time  had  come  to  make  a  fuss.  I 
therefore  wrote  to  Izzet  Pasha  asking  very  politely  when 
he  proposed  to  remove  the  sentries.  I  was  told  that 
the  matter  pertained  to  the  Vali’s  office,  which  on  being 
approached  referred  me  to  Izzet  Pasha,  on  the  ground 
that  it  fell  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  military  authori¬ 
ties  !  At  last,  after  much  delay,  I  did  succeed  in  getting 
the  sentries  taken  away,  only  to  find  to  my  disgust  that 
Hamdi  Effendi  was  to  remain.  As  it  was  to  his  com¬ 
pulsory  escort  that  I  objected  more  than  anything,  I 
protested  both  to  Izzet  Pasha  and  the  Vali,  pointing 
out  that  it  was  quite  impossible  for  me  to  do  any  work 
in  these  circumstances,  and  asking  the  reason  for  it. 
The  Consul  likewise  protested,  and  a  three-cornered 
correspondence  followed,  with  the  details  of  which  I  will 
not  weary  the  reader.  The  upshot  of  the  whole  business 
was  that  the  authorities  proved  to  be  inflexible  on  this 
point,  to  the  surprise  and  disappointment  of  both  the 
Consul  and  myself. 

I  was  visited  by  Izzet  Pasha’s  A.D.C.,  a  young  officer 
with  a  most  remarkable  talent  for  languages,  whose 
turn-out,  though  it  would  have  led  to  his  being  put  under 
instant  arrest  had  he  belonged  to  an  English  regiment 
and  ventured  to  come  on  parade  in  it,  was  none  the  less 
very  much  smarter  than  any  other  Turkish  officer  I 
ever  saw.  At  this  interview  I  repeated  all  I  had  said 
before,  and  suggested  that  we  might  just  as  well  lay  our 
cards  on  the  table,  as  it  was  no  good  pretending  that  the 
authorities  were  not  suspicious,  because  I  knew  better. 
I  offered  to  quote  the  exact  orders  given  to  the  sentries, 
which  rather  disconcerted  him,  and  referred  to  one  or 
two  other  matters  that  had  come  to  my  knowledge.  As 
for  protection  I  did  not  want  it,  and  both  the  Consul 
and  myself  had  offered  to  sign  a  document  waiving  any 
possible  claim  to  compensation  in  the  event  of  my  being 
killed  in  Sanaa  or  any  other  part  of  Arabia  within  the 
Ottoman  sphere  of  influence. 

To  this  the  A.D.C.,  waving  aside  these  arguments 


284  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


with  the  nonchalance  of  a  Foreign  Office  clerk  answering 
an  official  letter,  had  the  impudence  to  respond  that  they 
did  not  recognize  the  Consul  as  the  representative  of  Great 
Britain  except  in  commercial  matters.  I  asked  him  to 
give  me  this  in  writing,  but  he  was  not  quite  such  a  fool  as 
all  that.  He  informed  me  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  get 
a  formal  assurance  from  the  Embassy  at  Stamboul  that 
no  claim  should  be  made  on  my  behalf  :  then  and  then 
only  would  the  local  authorities  be  pleased  to  remove  all 
restrictions  and  allow  me  to  do  as  I  pleased. 

Though  in  no  way  deceived  by  this  obvious  subterfuge, 
for  many  weeks  must  elapse  before  the  necessary  assurance 
could  be  obtained,  even  if  the  Embassy  consented  to 
give  it,  I  consented,  notwithstanding,  to  make  the 
application,  and  did  actually  send  a  telegram  to  the 
Consul  on  the  subject,  which  got  so  mixed  up  in  transit 
that  it  was  difficult  to  tell  when  it  arrived  whether  the 
language  was  meant  for  Arabic  or  Turkish.  In  the 
meantime,  I  said  that,  as  I  did  not  consider  it  consistent 
with  our  dignity  for  Englishmen  in  Turkish  towns  to 
be  seen  about  under  police  surveillance,  I  would  not 
go  out  at  all. 

It  was  quite  plain  that  they  were  more  suspicious 
of  me  than  ever,  though  why  they  should  be  I  could  not 
comprehend,  and  it  began  to  look  as  if  trouble  was 
brewing  for  some  one. 

The  gates  of  Sanaa  were  opened  on  the  morning  after 
the  relief,  the  country  people  flocked  in  with  their  pro¬ 
duce,  and  prices  dropped  fifty  per  cent.  Troops  con¬ 
tinued  to  arrive  daily,  and  the  town  was  soon  full  of 
soldiers — Turkish,  Laz,  Albanian,  and  of  other  races. 
They  were  well  behaved  with  the  exception  of  the 
Albanians,  and  the  property  of  the  citizens  was  respected 
by  them.  The  Albanians  however  were  so  turbulent 
that  it  was  decided  to  send  most  of  them  off  on  an  ex¬ 
pedition  where  they  could  give  vent  to  their  superfluous 
energy  in  some  more  fighting.  The  first  regiments  that 
arrived  had  not  been  many  hours  in  Sanaa  before  several 
affrays  had  taken  place  between  the  Albanian  soldiers 
and  the  townspeople.  Some  Jewish  wine-shops  were 
plundered,  and  the  “  rais-el-baladiyah,”  that  is  to  say, 
the  Lord  Mayor,  was  seriously  injured.  We  heard  most 


285 


THE  RELIEF 

blood-curdling  stories  of  their  behaviour  on  the  way  up, 
their  reckless  valour  and  ferocity.  Yet  they  look  the 
most  harmless  people  in  the  world,  with  their  fair  hair, 
blue  eyes,  and  innocent  expressions.  The  Arabs,  es¬ 
pecially  the  Bedou  camel-men  of  the  Hedjaz,  sometimes 
make  the  mistake  of  judging  by  appearances,  only  to 
learn,  if  they  have  time  to  profit  by  the  knowledge 
acquired,  that  it  is  safer  to  play  the  fool  with  fulminate 
than  to  fall  foul  of  an  “  Arnootie.” 

Mohammed  Ali  Pasha  set  off  soon  after  the  relief  with 
a  strong  expeditionary  force  to  operate  against  the 
rebels  in  the  north-west.  He  was  anxious,  so  it  was 
said,  for  a  change  after  his  enforced  inaction,  and  to 
show  that  his  supineness  hitherto  had  been  dictated  by 
motives  of  policy  and  was  not  due  to  any  distaste  for 
service  in  the  field.  He  returned  to  Sanaa  without 
having  accomplished  very  much. 

I  received  a  visit  from  one  of  a  party  of  three  French 
engineers  who  had  come  up  from  Hodeidah  to  survey 
a  route  for  the  proposed  railway.  They  had  been  having 
an  unpleasant  time,  having  been  compelled  to  wait  in 
Menakha  for  nearly  a  month  while  the  cholera  epi¬ 
demic  was  raging  there.  There  were  thus  no  less 
than  five  non-Ottoman  subjects  in  Sanaa  at  one  time.  I 
returned  their  visit,  but  avoided  having  any  further 
communication  with  them  owing  to  my  reluctance  to 
inflict  myself  on  any  one  so  long  as  I  was  compelled  to 
drag  around  that  Frankenstein’s  monster — the  hateful 
Hamdi  Effendi.  He  insisted  on  following  me  into  their 
house  and  into  the  presence  of  the  engineer.  There  he 
sat,  the  “  tufailie,”  *  more  de  trop  than  an  Archbishop 
at  the  “  Abbaye.”  When  the  engineer  asked  me  into 
the  next  room  to  see  his  apparatus,  up  got  Hamdi  Effendi 
and  followed  us.  I  said  nothing  by  way  of  explanation, 
nor  was  it  necessary.  Signor  Caprotti  had  told  them 
how  the  land  lay. 

The  concession  for  the  building  of  this  railway  had 
been  ratified  since  I  left  Hodeidah.  The  negotiations 
had  been  prolonged  over  the  question  of  a  kilometric 
guarantee,  but  once  settled,  the  French  company  to 
whom  it  was  leased  lost  no  time  in  putting  the  work  in 

*  Ar.  =  unbidden  guest. 


286  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


hand.  The  insurrection  did  not  prevent  their  landing 
materials  and  beginning  work  on  the  first  section.  It 
was  necessary  as  a  preliminary  to  find  some  better 
landing  place  than  Hodeidah,  and  a  bay  a  few  miles  up 
the  coast  was  ultimately  chosen.  When  I  returned  to 
the  coast  in  June,  all  was  ready  to  lay  the  line  between 
that  point  and  Hodeidah,  and  from  there  the  track  had 
been  taken  about  half-way  to  Bagil.  The  present  con¬ 
tract  is  only  for  a  railway  between  Hodeidah  and  Hageilah 
— that  is  from  the  coast  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains. 
These  engineers  who  came  to  Sanaa  were  to  discover, 
if  they  could,  a  practicable  way  of  bringing  it  up  to  the 
capital — but  that  idea  is  still  somewhat  in  the  air,  and 
not  likely  to  materialize  for  the  present.  They  went 
south  early  in  May  with  an  escort  of  a  regiment,  and  I 
heard  no  more  of  them. 

Some  people,  competent  to  judge,  expect  this  railway 
to  be  a  failure  financially.  It  will  certainly  be  of  great 
use  to  the  Turks,  even  if  it  never  gets  farther  than  Hagei¬ 
lah.  I  very  much  doubt  if  it  will  reach  Sanaa  for  many 
years  to  come.  Apart  from  the  great  cost  of  construction, 
there  is  the  difficulty  of  holding  the  line  to  be  considered. 

The  anniversary  of  the  Sultan’s  accession,  April  27, 
was  observed  as  a  public  holiday.  Another  review  was 
held  at  which  the  garrison  which  had  defended  Senam 
Pasha  so  well  marched  past  by  itself  amid  great  ap¬ 
plause.  Some  of  the  regiments  which  had  come  up  with 
Izzet  Pasha  drilled  well  and  looked  quite  smart.  I  noticed 
that  a  lot  more  guns  had  arrived,  including  two  large 
howitzers.  It  was  a  pity  these  were  not  in  Sanaa  during 
the  siege. 

After  the  review  Izzet  Pasha  and  Mohammed  Ali  held 
a  reception  in  the  Hukumeh.  They  sat  at  the  end  of 
a  large  room  in  full  uniform,  both  of  course  blazing  with 
orders  ;  the  guests  were  ushered  in,  sat  down  on  chairs 
round  the  room,  partook  of  some  sweets  handed  to  them, 
stayed  about  three  minutes,  bowed  and  retired.  The 
various  classes  of  Ottoman  officials  went  first,  the  secre¬ 
tariat  being  followed  by  the  medical  corps,  the  police, 
and  so  on.  Then  the  non-official  citizens  were  admitted 
about  thirty  at  a  time.  Finally  Signor  Caprotti  and 
myself,  who,  being  the  only  foreign  subjects  in  Sanaa, 


THE  RELIEF 


287 


formed  a  class  to  ourselves,  were  ushered  into  the  presence. 
This  was  the  first  time  I  had  spoken  to  Mohammed  Ali 
or  indeed  had  seen  him  at  close  quarters.  I  found  him 
to  be  a  handsome  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  with  a  quiet, 
pleasant  voice  and  courteous  manner.  At  night  there 
were  the  usual  illuminations.  These  are  so  much  a 
feature  of  life  in  Turkish  towns  that  the  wealthier  citizens 
keep  a  stock  of  lamps  specially  for  the  purpose.  I  did 
not  buy  any  lamps,  but  as  there  was  no  reasonable  excuse 
for  not  falling  into  line  on  this  auspicious  occasion,  I 
allowed  Ahmad  to  waste  a  tin  of  paraffin  and  many 
rounds  of  revolver  ammunition  in  his  efforts  to  celebrate 
it  in  a  becoming  manner.  That  the  house  was  not  burnt 
down  was  due  purely  to  good  luck.  Ahmad  did  his 
best  with  the  materials  available. 


CHAPTER  XV 


WE  ESCAPE 

My  story  has  followed,  till  now,  the  most  conventional 
lines.  All  travellers’  tales  run  on  in  much  the  same  way  : 
there  is  the  odyssey,  the  arrival,  details  as  to  outfit, 
descriptions  of  places  and  persons  encountered,  and  the 
traveller’s  own  adventures  and  impressions,  the  whole 
flavoured  with  anecdotes  not  always  entirely  relevant 
to  the  subject-matter  of  the  work. 

It  must  sorrowfully  be  admitted  that  the  remaining 
chapters  of  this  book  partake  less  of  the  character  of 
an  ordinary  narrative  than  a  confession.  I  will  try  to 
spare  my  readers’  feelings  as  much  as  possible  by  cutting 
it  short,  but  the  more  sensitive  had  better  perhaps 
skip  this  part  and  read  in  the  appendix  the  opinion  of 
the  Foreign  Secretary  on  the  subject — which  ought  to 
be  good  enough  for  any  one.  I  write  de  profundis. 
From  all  privy  conspiracy,  sedition,  and  rebellion — but 
it  is  better  to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it.  Ahmad  and  I 
again  defied  “the  wishes  and  express  injunctions”  of 
the  local  authorities. 

We  began  doing  it  just  after  my  interview  with  Izzet 
Pasha’s  A.D.C.,  that  time  he  had  the  infernal  im¬ 
pudence  to  say  that  the  authorities  did  not  recognize 
the  British  Consul  except  as  a  commercial  agent.  We 
introduced  into  my  house,  unknown  to  those  authorities, 
at  dead  of  night,  an  individual  called  Muslih  who  was, 
so  the  cook  said,  the  biggest  scoundrel  in  Sanaa.  In 
spite  of  the  extreme  distrust  with  which  I  regarded 
Suleiman  our  Abyssinian  cook,  I  was  quite  prepared  to 
take  his  word  for  it  on  this  occasion.  I  had  to  use  him 
because  I  had  no  one  better  to  go  to.  He  had  lived  nearly 
all  his  life  in  Sanaa  and  knew  most  of  the  scoundrels  there, 

288 


289 


WE  ESCAPE 

or  to  put  it  another  way,  was  on  speaking  terms  with 
most  of  the  population.  I  was  able  to  make  it  worth 
his  while  to  keep  to  the  conventional  honour  among 
thieves,  and  so  trusted  to  his  good  faith — and  my  luck. 

This  man  Muslih,  it  appeared,  was  once  in  the  service 
of  the  Turkish  Government.  He  had  been  ejected  there¬ 
from,  and  now  made  his  living  by  buying  cartridges  from 
the  soldiers  and  selling  them  at  a  large  profit  to  the 
Imam.  He  feared  not  God,  neither  regarded  man, 
would  steal  kohl  from  the  eye  of  his  own  mother,  hated 
the  Turks,  and  had  that  knowledge  of  the  country  which 
only  brigands  can  hope  to  acquire.  Evidently  he  was 
the  very  man  for  the  wicked  design  I  had  in  contem¬ 
plation. 

There  was  a  little  misunderstanding  at  the  outset 
because  Muslih,  like  every  one  else  in  Sanaa,  took  me  for 
a  very  much  more  important  person  than  I  was.  He 
thought  I  wanted  to  go  over  to  the  Imam,  and  had 
chosen  him  to  carry  out  the  necessary  arrangements. 
No  doubt  rewards  and  preferment  when  that  pretender 
should  come  to  his  own,  and  a  substantial  douceur  from 
the  British  Government  in  the  meantime,  were  in  his 
mind.  When  I  at  last  succeeded  in  disabusing  him  of 
this  idea  he  was  disappointed,  but  still  quite  willing  to 
do  business  on  terms.  I  told  him  that  circumstances 
might  lead  me  to  want  to  quit  Sanaa  suddenly  and 
secretly  any  time  within  the  next  month,  and  that 
I  wanted  a  guide  and  a  small  escort  to  take  me  to  Marib. 
I  warned  him  that  the  Turks  would  make  every  effort  to 
stop  me  and  would  probably  pursue  ;  and  that  in  making 
his  arrangements  he  must  bear  that  in  mind.  Being 
an  utter  stranger  in  the  country,  I  was  ready  to  leave 
all  details  to  him,  provided  that  I  got  there  somehow. 
In  case  I  should  not  want  him  after  all,  I  would  pay 
him  a  fee  of  £5  for  his  trouble,  provided  that  everything 
was  held  in  readiness  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

I  must  admit  to  having  been  most  favourably  im¬ 
pressed  by  this  robber.  He  reflected  long  before  giving 
an  answer,  and  when  he  did,  it  was  straightforward  and 
to  the  point.  He  would  not,  at  any  price,  undertake 
to  arrange  my  escape  from  Sanaa  :  that  was  beyond  his 
power.  If  however  I  could  manage  that  part  of  the 

19 


290  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


business  myself,  he  would  meet  me  at  any  time  and  place 
I  might  choose,  with  a  small  band  of  desperadoes,  fully 
armed,  and  game  for  anything  from  pitch  and  toss  to 
manslaughter.  The  escape  accomplished,  he  could  pro¬ 
mise  me  that  we  should  see  Marib  within  a  week,  and 
that  the  whole  Ottoman  army,  horse,  foot,  and  artillery, 
would  be  powerless  to  prevent  it.  For  these  services  he 
asked  the  sum  of  thirty  Turkish  pounds. 

Instead  of  beating  him  down,  as  of  course  he  expected, 
I  accepted  his  offer  on  the  spot ;  and  ordered  the  Koran 
to  be  brought.  I  made  him  swear  by  all  that  we  both 
held  most  sacred  to  play  fair  in  this  business  if  never 
again.  It  was  far  too  serious  for  bargaining,  and  in 
acting  thus  I  took  the  best  chance  of  a  bad  lot. 

I  took  this  step — I  refer  to  my  dealings  with  Muslih — 
because  I  had  become  convinced  that  the  authorities 
had  no  intention  of  allowing  me  to  leave  Sanaa  except 
under  escort,  en  route  for  the  coast.  Izzet  Pasha’s 
sympathetic  interest  in  my  projects  for  the  exploration 
of  the  interior  I  no  longer  took  seriously.  The  very  fact 
that  no  suggestion  was  made  to  me  that  I  ought  to  return 
became  ominous.  Moreover  my  interview  with  the 
A.D.C.,  some  conversations  overheard  by  Ahmad,  who, 
it  will  be  news  to  some  people,  knows  Turkish  quite  well, 
and  warnings  I  received  from  other  sources,  indicated 
approaching  trouble  as  surely  as  does  a  falling  barometer 
the  coming  storm.  There  was  one  thing  quite  certain  : 
that  after  all  that  had  passed,  I  was  not  going  back  to 
Hodeidah  without  trying  conclusions  with  that  terrible 
Turk,  Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  Governor-General  of  the 
Yemen. 

There  is  one  thing  that  I  should  like  to  make  clear  in 
self-defence.  If  I  had  wanted  to  go  to  the  Imam  I  should 
not  have  employed  Muslih.  That  could  have  been 
arranged  quite  easily,  but  it  will  be  understood  that  I 
am  here  on  rather  dangerous  ground.  I  must  beg  the 
reader  to  take  my  word  for  it  :  “  Then,”  he  may  ask, 
“  why  didn’t  you  go  ?  ”  I  would  have  in  almost  any 
other  circumstances  ;  it  would  have  suited  me  in  every 
way  to  do  so,  but  I  was  tied  by  the  assurances  given  by 
the  Consul  to  the  authorities  concerning  me.  Had  I 
done  so,  it  would  have  been  open  to  the  Turks  to  accuse 


WE  ESCAPE 


291 


the  Consul  and  even  the  British  Government  of  bad 
faith.  For  this  very  reason  I  had  always  hitherto  avoided 
asking  any  official  aid  or  countenance  from  the  Foreign 
Office  or  its  representatives,  and  never  will  I  again.  The 
event  •  has  proved  that  my  scruples  were  excessive,  as 
will  appear  from  a  perusal  of  the  correspondence  at  the 
end  of  this  book.  By  repudiating  the  Consul  and  myself 
in  this  matter  the  Foreign  Secretary  has  as  good  as 
told  the  Turks  that  they  were  justified  in  regarding  me 
as  an  enemy.  I  have  no  doubt  Mohammed  Ali  is  sorry 
now  that  he  did  not  hang  me  when  he  had  the  chance, 
and  I  regret  equally  that  I  was  prevented  in  the  manner 
I  have  stated  from  taking  this  obvious  and  most  tempting 
way  out  of  all  my  difficulties.  However,  all  that  is 
finished  and  done  with.  I  cannot  at  any  rate  be  accused 
of  not  having  44  played  the  game  ”  with  all  concerned 
in  this  business,  and  the  Turks  have  not  heard  the  last 
of  rebellions  in  the  Yemen. 

Things  came  to  a  climax  in  the  following  way.  In 
order  to  be  prepared  for  every  contingency,  for  my 
luggage  had  at  last  arrived,  it  only  remained  to  keep  in 
my  possession  a  large  sum  of  money  in  cash.  Signor 
Caprotti,  who  was  acting  as  my  banker,  became  aware, 
from  this  heavy  draft  being  made  on  him,  that  something 
was  in  the  wind.  Being  questioned  I  told  him  the  course 
that,  in  certain  eventualities,  I  proposed  to  follow. 
When  he  heard  the  plan,  he  condemned  it  most  strongly. 
Even  if  I  were  successful  in  leaving  Sanaa,  which  was 
doubtful,  there  was,  he  said,  no  hope  whatever  of  my 
return.  In  the  actual  state  of  affairs,  suspected  as  I  was, 
and  with  no  friends  among  the  Arabs  on  whom  I  could 
rely  at  Marib,  the  scheme  was  sheer  madness,  and  merely 
an  uncomfortable  way  of  committing  suicide.  I  was  much 
impressed  by  his  arguments,  for  I  have  no  sympathy 
whatever  with  fools  who  endanger  their  own  and  other 
people’s  lives  in  enterprises  that  are  hopeless  from  the 
start.  I  decided  in  the  end  to  follow  his  advice,  which 
was  to  get  the  Turks  to  give  me  an  escort  to  Katiba, 
the  frontier  town  on  the  road  to  Aden,  and  once  out  of 
Turkish  territory  to  work  my  way  east  along  the  border, 
and  then  go  north  to  Marib.  He  did  not  consider  this 
impossible  of  achievement,  though  he  did  not  much  like 


292  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


the  idea  ;  nor  did  I,  for  I  had  made  no  arrangements 
with  the  Aden  Government,  and  did  not  know  what  view 
they  would  take.  However,  as  it  seemed  on  the  whole 
the  best  thing  to  do,  and  it  was  plain  that  I  should  gain 
nothing  by  staying  on  in  Sanaa,  I  wrote  to  the  Vali 
telling  him  that  I  wished  to  go  to  Aden,  and  would  like 
an  escort,  though  I  could  dispense  with  it  if  it  were 
inconvenient  to  find  one  for  me.  In  answer  to  this  I 
got  a  verbal  message  from  the  Mudir  to  say  that  he 
himself  would  escort  me  to  Hodeidah  in  four  days’  time  : 
therefore  would  I  please  make  ready  to  start.  “  Hullo  !  ” 
I  thought,  “  what’s  up  now  ?  ”  I  went  round  at  once 
to  see  the  Mudir,  who  wrung  his  hands  and  told  me  that 
he  could  say  nothing,  and  that  if  I  had  any  questions  to 
ask  I  must  see  the  Vali. 

His  Excellency  was  evidently  expecting  my  visit. 
“  It  is  curious,”  he  said,  “  that  your  application  for 
an  escort  should  have  reached  me  at  the  same  time 
as  a  telegram  from  our  Foreign  Minister  ordering  me 
to  send  you  back  to  Hodeidah  at  once.” 

“  Very  curious  indeed,”  I  replied ;  “no  doubt  the 
British  Ambassador  has  given  similar  instructions  to 
the  Consul,  and  I  shall  receive  orders  from  him  in  due 
course.” 

“You  must  leave  on  Thursday.” 

“  I  await  the  Consul’s  orders  to  do  so.” 

“  Look  here,”  said  the  Vali  truculently,  “  does  the 
English  Consul  give  orders  in  this  country  or  do  I  ?  ” 

“  Your  Excellency  is  well  aware  that  an  order  of  this 
kind  must  be  transmitted  through  the  proper  channel,” 
I  returned,  keeping  my  temper  with  great  difficulty ; 
“  you  will  doubtless  allow  me  to  remain  until  I  have 
telegraphed  to  the  Consul  and  received  a  reply.” 

“  No,  I  won’t,”  said  the  Vali ;  “  you  will  start  on 
Thursday  morning.” 

I  returned  to  my  house  reflecting  on  the  way,  for  there 
was  no  time  to  be  lost.  The  nearest  telegraph  station 
was  at  Sook-el-Khamis,  forty  kilometres  distant,  for 
the  line  between  that  place  and  Sanaa  had  not  yet  been 
repaired,  and  therefore  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  get 
an  answer  from  the  Consul  in  the  time  allotted.  The 
plot  was  quite  transparent.  The  Vali  had  decided  to 


WE  ESCAPE 


298 


“  stand  the  racket,”  and  send  me  back  to  Hodeidah 
without  reference  to  the  Consul ;  who  would  make  a  fuss 
of  course,  but  that  could  not  be  helped. 

I  thought  that  by  acting  with  sufficient  promptitude 
I  might  frustrate  this  little  scheme  in  spite  of  all.  Within 
an  hour  of  my  interview  with  the  Vali,  “  the  Napani  ” 
left  on  a  donkey  with  a  telegram  for  the  Consul,  and 
instructions  to  send  it  as  “urgent,”  bribe  the  clerks  if 
necessary  to  clear  the  line,  await  the  answer  at  Sook-el- 
Khamis,  and  bring  it  back  with  all  possible  despatch.  If 
“  the  Napani  ”  rode  hard  and  the  Consul  acted  promptly, 
as  I  knew  he  would,  I  calculated  on  getting  a  reply  late 
on  Wednesday  afternoon,  and  I  looked  forward  to  sending 
it  round  to  Mohammed  Ali  with  a  little  note  telling  him, 
in  diplomatic  language,  to  go  to  the  devil. 

The  Consul,  when  he  received  my  wire,  sent  an 
urgent  telegram  to  the  Vali ;  and  also  one  to  myself, 
which  ran,  so  far  as  I  remember,  “You  must  obey 
no  orders  except  from  me  :  on  no  account  leave  Sanaa. 
Show  this  telegram  to  the  Vali.”  I  should  have  got 
it  in  time  if  “the  Napani”  had  not  been  interfered 
with — but  the  next  morning  I  got  a  message  from 
him  to  say  he  had  been  stopped  by  the  police  by 
order  of  the  Vali,  my  telegram  had  been  taken  away 
from  him  and  sent  back  to  Sanaa,  and,  though  it 
had  been  returned,  and  he  had  been  allowed  to  proceed, 
it  was  hopeless  to  expect  him  back  on  Wednesday. 
This  incident  was  common  gossip  in  the  market  that 
day,  and  every  one  was  laughing  at  it.  Suleiman  brought 
another  piece  of  news  a  little  later.  The  Mudir  of 
police  himself,  disguised  as  an  Arab,  had  passed  the 
night  in  the  house  next  to  mine,  while  over  thirty  police¬ 
men  were  watching  my  abode,  every  means  of  access  to  or 
egress  from  it  being  now  guarded. 

Much  as  my  conduct  may  be  open  to  censure,  in 
relating  what  happened  I  am  consoled  by  my  conviction 
that  the  reader  would  most  probably  have  done  exactly 
the  same  thing  himself  in  similar  circumstances.  Who 
would  consent,  after  standing  a  siege  and  being  harassed 
as  I  had,  to  be  packed  off  to  the  coast  like  a  bale  of 
merchandise  ?  Besides,  the  Vali  had,  so  I  considered,  by 
his  outrageous  action  in  stopping  my  communication 


294  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


to  the  Consul,  begun  hostilities  :  diplomatic  relations 
between  us  might  be  considered  at  an  end. 

Fortunately,  I  had  had  sufficient  good  sense  to  make 
certain  preparations  for  an  event  that  I  had  to  some 
extent  foreseen.  Everything  required  for  an  escape 
was  actually  in  the  house,  including  a  rope  ladder  which 
Ahmad  and  I  had  made  ourselves,  and  women’s  clothes 
for  both  of  us.  The  costume  of  a  Turkish  lady  makes 
the  best  disguise  I  know  of,  partly  because  of  the  thick 
veil  that  may  be  worn,  and  still  more  because,  so  great 
is  the  respect  in  which  women  are  held,  that  even  a 
policeman  is  very  reluctant  to  address  one.  We  had 
in  fact  several  alternative  schemes,  from  among  which 
we  had  merely  to  choose  the  best. 

That  night  ( i.e .  the  Monday),  after  making  Hamdi 
Effendi  drunk,  never  a  difficult  matter,  but  particularly 
easy  on  this  occasion,  owing  to  his  joy  at  the  prospect 
of  getting  rid  of  us — Ahmad  and  I  went  into  committee. 
Our  first  care  was  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  report 
that  the  house  was  surrounded.  In  order  to  do  this 
I  stole  quietly  into  the  room  over  the  porch,  where 
Hamdi  was  sleeping  off  his  debauch ;  then  Ahmad,  on 
hearing  my  whistle,  threw  open  the  front  door  and  stepped 
out.  Two  policemen  who  had  been  hiding  against  the 
wall  sprang  forward  to  seize  him,  and  were  nearly  fright¬ 
ened  out  of  what  senses  they  possessed  by  the  dazzling 
glare  I  threw  on  them  from  above,  with  a  powerful 
electric  lantern.  One  of  them  gave  a  loud  yell  and 
performed  a  complete  pirouette  ;  Ahmad  burst  out 
laughing,  went  in,  and  slammed  the  door.  Casting  the 
rays  up  and  down  the  street  I  saw  other  men  hurrying 
forward.  Evidently  the  report  we  had  heard  was  no 
exaggeration. 

This  lamp  was  something  new  in  Sanaa.  The  following 
day  a  merchant  came  to  my  house  and  offered  to  buy  it 
at  my  own  price ;  but  I  would  not  have  parted  with  it 
just  then  for  a  great  deal  of  money. 

Returning  to  our  conclave,  it  was  obvious  that  our  first 
plan,  to  slip  out  at  night  and  use  the  rope  ladder  to 
descend  the  city  wall,  was  no  longer  practicable.  The 
idea  of  leaving  the  house  by  day  disguised  as  women  and 
hiding  in  the  town  was  abandoned  after  long  discussion  for 


WE  ESCAPE 


295 


the  more  simple  plan  of  enticing  Hamdi  Effendi  outside 
the  gate  and  then  running  away  from  him.  The  great 
drawback  to  this  lay  in  the  fact  that  unless  we  escaped 
just  before  dark  we  should  be  recaptured  for  a  certainty. 
Except  for  Gebel  Nugoom  and  the  village  of  Shaoob,  the 
country  round  Sanaa  is  absolutely  flat  and  open,  without 
cover  of  any  sort  for  several  miles.  The  alarm  once 
given,  it  would  be  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world  for 
horsemen  to  ride  us  down.  Hamdi  Effendi  could  never 
be  induced  to  let  us  go  more  than  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  the  gate,  and  had  always  insisted  on  returning  long 
before  sundown.  The  difficulty  was  to  devise  a  way 
to  keep  him  quiet  after  he  had  become  aware  of  our 
intention,  and  prevent  his  giving  the  alarm  before  we 
had  got  a  fair  start.  I  would  not,  of  course,  consent  to 
any  harm  being  done  to  him,  and  so  in  the  end  we 
decided  to  rely  entirely  on  accurate  timing.  Ahmad’s 
amendment  to  this  proposal,  namely,  that  he  should 
suddenly  pinion  his  arms  while  I  anaesthetized  him 
with  ethyl  chloride,  was  withdrawn  by  leave.  I  have 
always  objected  to  using  any  kind  of  poison  for  criminal 
purposes. 

The  next  morning  I  sent  a  message  to  Muslih  informing 
him  that  we  should  escape  from  Sanaa  on  Wednesday 
evening,  and  that  he  must  be  at  the  rendezvous  I  ap¬ 
pointed,  a  small  tank  near  the  town  known  as  “  the 
Magil,”  from  the  time  it  got  dark  till  sunrise  :  if  we  had 
not  arrived  by  then,  he  could  consider  the  bargain  at 
an  end,  pay  his  men  out  of  the  money  he  had  received  in 
advance,  and  keep  the  rest.  I  warned  him  that  we  were 
about  to  trust  our  lives  to  his  good  faith,  and  no  reason 
existed  that  was  good  enough  to  prevent  his  punctual 
observance  of  these  instructions.  I  got  back  a  most 
reassuring  reply  from  him. 

We  now  proceeded  to  smuggle  out  to  him  the  instru¬ 
ments,  books,  and  clothes  I  had  decided  to  take.  In 
this  work  Suleiman’s  small  nephew,  a  boy  of  about 
twelve  years  of  age,  played  a  useful  role.  Most  of  them 
left  the  house  in  the  basket  in  which  he  brought  the  meat 
and  vegetables.  By  Wednesday  morning  all  had  been 
safely  delivered,  and  the  police,  so  far  as  I  knew,  were 
still  unsuspicious.  I  sent  also  one  hundred  and  ten  silver 


296  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


dollars  sewn  np  in  cloth,  in  packets  of  ten.  This  may 
seem  to  have  been  an  unwise  thing  to  do,  but  there  was 
really  no  help  for  it.  We  were  bound  to  have  the 
dollars,  and  we  could  not  possibly  carry  them. 

I  did  not  tell  Signor  Caprotti  of  my  purpose,  because 
I  wanted  him  to  be  able  to  swear,  if  necessary,  that  he 
knew  nothing  about  it.  Moreover  I  knew  that  he  would 
strongly  disapprove. 

Pretending  not  to  be  aware  that  my  telegram  had  been 
stopped,  I  affected  to  think  that  I  should  have  to  go  on 
the  Thursday  as  ordered,  unless  the  Consul  intervened  in 
the  meantime,  which  seemed  unlikely  to  happen.  The 
obvious  conveniences  of  this  had  influenced  me  in  de¬ 
ciding  on  our  mode  of  departure,  for  I  was  enabled  to 
pay  my  bills,  sell  my  furniture  and  so  on,  without  arousing 
suspicion.  I  had  bought  a  mule  and  two  donkeys  some 
time  before  in  order  to  get  my  luggage  up  from  Hodeidah, 
and  these  I  said  I  should  use  on  the  journey  down,  and 
dispose  of  on  the  coast. 

I  wrote  two  letters,  one  to  the  Consul,  informing  him 
officially  of  what  had  happened  and  what  my  intentions 
were  :  another  to  the  Vali,  apologizing  for  the  liberty  I 
was  taking,  begging  him  not  to  trouble  himself  further 
on  my  account,  and  thanking  him  for  the  kindness  and 
courtesy  he  had  shown  me  during  my  stay  in  Sanaa. 

“  He  won’t  survive  it.  He’ll  die,”  said  Ahmad  as  he 
handed  this  last  one  back  to  me. 

“  Inshallah,”  I  replied  as  I  fastened  the  envelope. 

Only  two  were  in  the  secret  beside  ourselves — Suleiman, 
the  cook,  and  his  nephew.  We  knew  that  Suleiman 
would  be  arrested,  but  it  seemed  unlikely  that  anything 
very  serious  could  be  done  to  him,  especially  as  he  claimed 
to  be  an  Italian  subject.  I  rewarded  him  on  a  scale  to 
compensate  him  for  a  little  imprisonment — and  even  some 
“  koorbag,”  if  it  came  to  that. 

Meanwhile  we  had  to  put  up  with  a  good  deal.  The 
affair  was  the  talk  of  the  town,  and  my  unceremonious 
ejection  was  regarded  with  amusement  not  unmingled 
with  pity.  The  condescending  affability  of  Hamdi 
Effendi  would  in  itself  have  tried  the  temper  of  the 
Archangel  Gabriel.  The  Vali,  he  assured  me  many  times, 
was  acting  for  the  best ;  and  though  of  course  it  was  a 


WE  ESCAPE 


297 


disappointment  to  me  to  have  to  go  back  like  this — the 
decisions  of  the  central  Government  were  beyond  dis¬ 
cussion.  Ahmad  also  was  much  laughed  at  by  his 
acquaintances  in  the  town.  We  bore  all  this  with  a 
meekness  and  fortitude  most  becoming  ;  borne  up  by 
the  knowledge  that  we  were  about  to  administer  to 
Mohammed  Ali  “  quelque  chose  pour  son  rhume .” 

Wednesday  morning  came,  and  I  told  Hamdi  Effendi 
that,  as  it  was  my  last  day,  I  thought  of  going  outside 
the  wall  to  take  a  few  photographs  of  Sanaa  as  a  memento 
of  my  visit.  “  The  afternoon  will  be  the  best  time  when 
the  sun  gets  low,”  I  told  him  ;  “I  will  ride  the  mule,  and 
you  can  ride  one  of  the  donkeys.”  Ahmad  begged  to 
be  included.  “Very  well,”  I  said,  “you  can  ride  the 
other,  and  I  will  photograph  you  both  if  you  like.” 
Hamdi  Effendi,  who,  being  extremely  ugly,  is  naturally 
as  vain  as  a  peacock,  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  prospect 
and  went  off,  promising  to  come  in  time,  and  (I  reminded 
him)  to  wear  his  best  clothes  and  a  starched  collar.  It 
was  only  fitting  that  he  should  be  dressed  in  a  becoming 
manner  on  what  promised  to  be  such  a  very  happy 
occasion. 

Ahmad  and  I  lunched,  hurrying  over  it  in  the  pre¬ 
occupied  manner  that  is  peculiar  to  those  whose  nerves 
are  tuned  up,  travellers  who  have  to  catch  a  train,  and 
soldiers  before  a  battle.  We  then  arrayed  ourselves 
for  the  adventure,  which  was  rather  a  complicated  busi¬ 
ness.  We  had  each  a  sum  of  £75  in  gold,  sewn  up  in 
wash-leather,  hung  round  the  neck  by  a  strong  silk  cord, 
and  made  to  look  as  nearly  as  possible  like  the  amulets 
the  Arabs  are  so  fond  of  carrying.  Ahmad  wore  his 
black  Zaidie  costume  under  his  ordinary  clothes,  and 
had  many  other  things  concealed  about  his  person.  My 
own  disguise  had  been  sent  with  the  other  things  to 
Muslih,  but  still  I  had  much  to  carry.  I  put  on  the 
shirt  of  mail  I  had  brought  from  Europe  under  my 
Kuftan,  and  our  weapons  completed  a  toilette ,  which,  as 
we  were  going  to  be  photographed,  excited  no  suspicion 
in  our  friend.  Hamdi  Effendi  was  punctual,  but  we  were 
not.  When  we  did  descend,  a  closer  observer  might 
have  noticed  that  we  looked  unusually  stout.  Various 
things  went  wrong  with  the  harness,  so  that  we  did  not 


298  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


actually  get  started  till  nearly  4.30.  I  apologized  for  the 
delay.  “  No  matter,”  said  Hamdi  affably,  “  I  shall  be 
rid  of  you  in  a  few  hours.”  “  That  you  will,  bedad,”  I 
thought  to  myself. 

In  my  days  of  liberty,  before  the  siege,  I  had  carefully 
reconnoitred  the  ground,  and  so  knew  exactly  where  to 
go.  The  nearest  spur  of  the  mountains  began  about  two 
miles  south-east  of  the  town  ;  opposite  to  it,  and  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  wall,  there  was  a  grove  of  trees 
round  a  well  that  seemed  to  have  been  made  for  our  pur¬ 
pose.  We  left  the  town  by  the  Yemen  Gate  and  jogged 
along  under  the  wall.  We  passed  the  barracks,  and  soon 
after  encountered  a  regiment  returning  from  exercise.  I 
stopped  to  take  a  photograph,  and  again  for  the  same 
purpose  at  the  various  gates  and  other  points  of  interest 
we  passed.  One  way  and  another,  time  passed,  and  it 
was  near  sundown  when  I  suddenly  remembered  that  I 
had  taken  no  photograph  of  the  town  seen  as  a  whole. 
Hamdi  Effendi  suggested  rectifying  this  omission  on 
our  way  out  the  next  morning,  but  I  explained  that  the 
sun  would  be  in  the  wrong  place.  “  Come  on,”  I  said, 
pointing  to  the  little  grove,  “we  can  get  it  nicely  from 
there  ;  and  hurry,  for  it  is  getting  late.”  We  cantered 
forward,  followed  by  the  unsuspecting  police  officer.  As 
the  Mudir  put  it  in  his  report,  “  they  had  with  them  one 
mule  and  two  donkeys  beside  Hamdi  Effendi.” 

Arrived  at  the  well  we  dismounted,  and,  ascending  a 
little  hillock  near  by,  I  had  a  good  look  round  with  my 
field-glasses.  I  observed  that  we  were  about  four  hundred 
yards  from  the  nearest  gate,  but  partially  screened  from 
view  by  the  trees  round  the  wall.  A  great  many  soldiers, 
including  some  mounted  men,  were  to  be  seen  on  the 
road  running  alongside  the  wall,  but  in  the  space  that 
separated  us  from  the  hills  the  only  living  objects  were 
a  couple  of  shepherds  and  a  few  sheep.  All  seemed 
going  well.  Two  little  boys  from  a  neighbouring  house 
had  given  up  tip-cat  to  watch  our  proceedings. 

After  taking  as  long  as  I  dared  with  the  camera  I 
descended  and  photographed  Ahmad.  I  then  proposed 
to  do  the  same  for  Hamdi,  but  he  had  become  suddenly 
nervous  and  irritable,  and  no  longer  wished  for  it.  We 
must  go  back  at  once,  he  said ;  the  sun  was  behind  the 


WE  ESCAPE 


299 


hills,  and  the  gates  were  closed  at  nightfall.  When  at 
last  we  did  mount,  the  girth  of  one  of  the  saddles  gave 
way  in  the  most  unexpected  manner.  While  Hamdi 
and  I  were  trying  to  repair  this,  Hamdi’s  donkey  strayed 
away.  He  went  to  fetch  it,  I  mounted  the  mule,  and 
Ahmad,  giving  his  donkey  a  kick  to  send  it  off,  came  and 
stood  by  my  side.  The  moment  had  come. 

Hamdi  Effendi  retraced  his  steps  slowly  and  re¬ 
flectively.  From  the  first  nuance  of  suspicion  he 
had  conceived  when  I  was  using  my  field-glasses  so 
attentively,  the  horrid  fear  that  was  oppressing  him  had 
grown  visibly  in  his  countenance.  Could  any  one,  calling 
himself  a  human  being,  be  capable  of  such  turpitude  ? 
It  seemed  to  him  incredible.  A  prey  to  obvious  emotion, 
he  advanced  upon  us  till  I  called  on  him  to  stop  in  a  voice 
that  brought  him  up  all  standing.  I  was  afraid  he  might 
consider  the  moment  of  our  turning  our  backs  on  him 
a  suitable  one  for  pistol  practice,  and  so  did  not  want 
him  too  close.  “  May  God  preserve  you  !  ”  I  cried. 
“Aren’t  you  coming  home  ?  ”  said  Hamdi  pathetically. 
“No,”  said  I,  “we  are  going  to  Muscat.  Give  my 
salaams  to  the  Vali.  Come  on,  Ahmad  !  ” 

Ahmad  seized  my  stirrup  leather,  the  mule  under 
most  powerful  persuasion  bounded  forward,  and  we  were 
off.  No  shots  followed  :  in  his  anxiety  about  the  starched 
collar  Hamdi  Effendi  had  forgotten  his  revolver.  When 
I  last  saw  him  he  had  given  up  trying  to  catch  his  don¬ 
key  and  was  running  for  the  gate. 

Taking  it  in  turns  to  ride  and  run  we  crossed  the  two 
miles  or  so  of  plough  at  a  hand  gallop,  and  reached  the 
first  foot-hills  in  a  very  short  time,  but  so  far  as  I  was 
concerned  more  dead  than  alive.  I  was  much  out  of 
condition,  and  let  me  here  and  now  advise  any  of  my 
readers  who  may  ever  find  themselves  under  the  necessity 
of  doing  this  sort  of  thing  not  to  wear  chain  armour. 
When  the  ground  became  too  steep  to  ride,  we  parted 
with  the  poor  old  mule  with  a  slash  over  the  quarters 
that  sent  him  galloping  away.  I  glanced  back  :  in 
Sanaa  the  bugles  were  sounding  the  retreat,  and  a  single 
horseman  was  moving  at  speed  across  the  plain,  but  not 
in  our  direction :  no  pursuit  had  yet  started.  Half 
running,  half  climbing,  we  stumbled  upwards  through  the 


300  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


fast-gathering  darkness,  and  did  not  rest  till  we  had 
reached  a  point  on  the  steep  hillside  far  above  the  plain, 
and  inaccessible  to  mounted  men.  We  stopped  at  last, 
and  threw  ourselves  down  behind  a  great  boulder.  I  was 
more  out  of  breath  than  I  ever  want  to  be  again. 

It  was  a  cloudy  night,  and  the  moon  was  not  rising 
till  two  a.m.  We  were  about  five  miles  from  our  rendezvous , 
but  as  I  did  not  wish  to  arrive  there  much  before  mid¬ 
night  there  was  no  hurry,  though  as  we  should  have  to 
proceed  very  cautiously  and  it  is  slow  work  making  one’s 
way  across  country  in  the  dark,  I  decided  to  allow  plenty 
of  time.  We  waited  therefore  till  it  was  quite  dark  ;  then, 
having  discarded  all  light-coloured  garments,  we  de¬ 
scended  the  hill  and  proceeded  to  move  across  the  plain, 
halting  frequently  to  take  observations.  I  had  managed 
to  get  a  compass-bearing  before  dark.  In  spite  of  our 
precautions,  we  narrowly  escaped  capture.  On  a  sudden 
we  heard  in  the  distance  the  neigh  of  a  horse,  and  a  little 
later  human  voices  and  the  tramp  of  feet.  We  lay  down 
flat  and  kept  perfectly  still.  The  patrol  consisted  of 
about  thirty  men,  of  whom  half  were  mounted.  They 
passed  so  close  that  we  distinctly  heard  their  conversation. 
“They  are  strangers,”  said  one,  “and  so  must  keep  to 
the  road,  or  they  will  lose  themselves.”  I  heard  a  voice 
say  something  in  Turkish  which  I  thought  I  recognized 
as  that  of  our  old  friend  the  Mudir. 

At  one  time  I  thought  they  were  going  to  ride  right 
over  us,  for  it  happened  that  we  had  thrown  ourselves 
down  at  the  side  of  the  road  leading  to  Haddah,  which 
they  were  following.  The  night  was  dark  and  we  were 
dressed  entirely  in  black,  which  saved  us,  no  doubt,  for 
Arabs  generally  have  sharp  eyes. 

When  all  was  quiet  again  we  continued  our  march. 
In  the  distance  we  heard  sounds  that  at  this  hour  of 
the  night  were  significant ;  dogs  were  barking  all  over 
the  countryside.  The  barracks,  I  observed,  were  brilliantly 
illuminated,  though  it  was  long  past  the  hour  for  “  lights 
out.”  At  last  we  found  ourselves  stumbling  among 
grave -mounds  and  tombstones,  and  knew  we  were  near 
our  destination.  After  a  few  trials  we  discerned  against 
the  skyline  the  domed  roof  of  the  deserted  chapel  above 
the  tank.  I  gave  the  agreed  signal,  but  it  remained 


aoi 


WE  ESCAPE 

unanswered.  Advancing  cautiously  for  fear  of  a  trap, 
we  reached  our  rendezvous ,  only  to  find  that  there  was 
no  one  there.  Consternation  at  this  discovery  was 
dulled  for  the  moment  by  the  fact  that  we  were  consumed 
with  thirst  and  that  here  was  water.  This  little  pond 
was  used  as  a  swimming  bath  by  the  young  men  of 
Sanaa  :  it  was  full  of  frogs,  slime,  and  other  abomina¬ 
tions,  and  some  time  before,  when  we  visited  it  with 
Hamdi,  I  had  pointed  with  disgust  to  an  old  Arab  woman 
who  was  drinking  the  water — which  only  shows  how 
easy  it  is  to  be  severe  on  sins  that  one  has  no  temptation 
to  commit  one’s  self — for  on  this  occasion  I  really  thought 
we  were  going  to  drink  it  dry.  Having  slaked  our  thirst, 
we  crouched  under  the  wall  and  discussed  the  situation 
in  whispers.  I  could  not  believe  that  Muslih  had  played 
us  false  ;  he  must  be  hiding  close  by.  It  was  only  after 
carefully  reconnoitring  all  the  ground  in  the  vicinity  that 
we  came  to  realize  the  true  state  of  the  case,  and  how 
very  awkwardly  we  were  situated.  With  our  guides  to 
lead  us,  we  should  have  been  out  of  reach  of  the  Turks 
before  daybreak,  but  without  them  it  was  hopeless  to 
go  forward,  for  the  best  part  of  the  night  was  already 
gone.  Our  best  chance,  though  a  poor  one,  seemed  to 
be  to  hide  somewhere  before  it  got  light  and  return  the 
next  night  in  case  Muslih  should  come  ;  if  he  did  not, 
then  to  strike  eastwards  by  ourselves  and  chance  it. 
Since  however  I  considered  the  case  well-nigh  hopeless, 
it  was  not  fair  to  keep  Ahmad.  Though  the  idea  of  being 
left  alone  there  was  by  no  means  a  pleasant  one — in  fact 
I  dreaded  parting  with  him — I  could  not  in  common 
decency  keep  him.  I  therefore  advised  him  to  go  off  and 
find  his  way  back  to  his  own  country,  which,  alone,  he 
would  probably  have  little  difficulty  in  doing.  I  offered 
him  plenty  of  money  and  the  pistol  he  was  carrying  for 
self-defence.  Ahmad  however  gave  me  to  understand 
that  the  sons  of  Abbas  had  never  been  in  the  habit  of 
deserting  their  friends  in  the  hour  of  danger,  and  that  he 
proposed  to  see  the  thing  through  come  what  might. 
That  we  were  in  great  peril  admitted  of  no  doubt.  We 
knew  the  Turkish  soldier  well  enough  to  be  aware  that 
taking  prisoners  is  not  congenial  to  him  in  any  circum¬ 
stances.  I  had  now  given  the  authorities  what  they 


302  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


might  choose  to  consider  an  excuse  for  proceeding  to 
any  length,  even  if  the  troops  who  found  us  gave  them 
the  chance,  which  we  thought  unlikely.  The  matter 
would  probably  be  settled  unofficially — if  we  got  caught. 

When  the  moon  rose  we  went  forward,  making  a  wide 
detour  so  as  not  to  pass  too  close  under  the  citadel.  It 
got  very  cold  as  the  night  wore  on  ;  I  had  injured  my 
right  foot  and  Ahmad,  having  lost  his  sandals  during 
our  flight,  had  got  his  feet  so  badly  cut  walking  over  the 
rough,  stony  ground,  that  they  could  almost  have  followed 
us  up  by  blood  spoor.  We  made  slow  progress  in  con¬ 
sequence,  and  it  was  not  till  just  before  dawn  that  we 
came  down  into  Shaoob.  We  chose  for  our  hiding-place 
a  group  of  buildings  partially  demolished  by  the  Turkish 
shell  fire,  surrounded  by  a  clump  of  small  trees,  and, 
dropping  utterly  exhausted,  we  slept  till  after  sunrise,  in 
spite  of  the  cold. 

What  a  difference  daylight  may  make  in  the  outlook  ! 
Do  things  ever  appear  quite  so  bad  in  the  sunshine  as  they 
may  have  seemed  in  the  last  half  of  a  long  night  ?  After 
all,  I  reflected,  no  game  is  lost  till  it  is  won,  and  as  Ahmad 
remarked,  nothing  happens  to  us  except  what  is  fore¬ 
ordained.  I  had  lost  it  was  true  all  my  instruments  and 
other  equipment.  Well,  so  much  the  worse  for  the  science 
of  geography.  We  ourselves  were  still  intact  except  for 
our  feet,  which  would  soon  get  right  ;  we  had  our  weapons 
and  plenty  of  money,  and  all  Arabia  lay  before  us. 

Having  no  food,  we  were  smoking  a  cigarette  by 
way  of  breakfast,  when  I  had  an  idea.  I  did  not  dare 
apply  to  Signor  Caprotti  for  fear  of  compromising  him, 
but  there  was  one  man  in  Sanaa  beside  him  whom  I 
knew  I  could  trust.  We  would  hold  up  a  passer-by  and 
send  him  with  a  message. 

We  crawled  forward  through  the  trees  to  a  point  from 
which  we  commanded  the  road,  and  waited  till  a  likely- 
looking  wayfarer  passed.  Our  choice  fell  on  an  un¬ 
sophisticated-looking  old  man  with  a  bundle  on  his 
shoulder,  who  was  trudging  along  toward  Sanaa.  We 
signalled  to  him  from  our  hiding-place,  and  after  some 
hesitation  he  came  forward,  reflecting  perhaps  that  he 
carried  nothing  that  would  tempt  the  cupidity  of  even 
the  least  ambitious  of  robbers.  I  explained  that  we 


803 


WE  ESCAPE 

were  fugitives  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Turks  and  required 
to  send  a  message  to  a  friend  in  Sanaa.  If  he  would 
carry  it  and  not  betray  us  I  offered  him  as  reward 
a  sum  of  money  that  made  him  open  his  eyes  in  astonish¬ 
ment  as  I  showed  him  the  gold  in  my  hand.  The  message 
was  verbal,  for  I  dared  not  write.  “  Tell  him,”  I  said, 

“  that  two  friends  of  his  who  left  Sanaa  last  night  are 
in  hiding  in  Shaoob.  Let  him  send  back,  with  you  the 
messenger,  before  nightfall,  some  food,  a  pair  of  shoes, 
and  a  man  who  knows  the  way  to  Marib,  and  his  and 
your  reward  shall  be  in  this  life  as  well  as  in  that  to 
come.”  The  old  man  went  off  after  we  had  shown  him 
our  cache — to  which  we  then  returned.  A  little  after 
midday  he  came  back  bringing  some  food,  some  hot 
“  Kishr  ”  in  an  earthenware  phial,  and  the  shoes.  Our 
friend  he  said  wanted  a  gage  before  he  would  say  or 
do  anything  more.  We  gave  him  a  ring  which  Ahmad 
had  bought  from  the  other  man,  imploring  him  to  use  all 
despatch,  for  as  he  could  see  the  matter  was  one  of  life 
and  death.  I  paid  him  the  reward  and  promised  as 
much  again  if  we  had  our  guide  before  sundown.  He 
hurried  off,  genuinely  concerned,  and  Ahmad  and  I 
addressed  ourselves  to  the  lunch  he  had  brought. 

It  was  not  a  good  lunch,  nor  was  there  much  of  it,  but 
I  have  never  enjoyed  one  more.  We  had  eaten  nothing 
for  twenty-four  hours  and  were  once  more  very  thirsty. 

The  day  wore  on,  and  as  the  old  man  did  not  return,  I 
began  to  get  more  and  more  anxious.  About  five  o’clock 
we  had  a  bad  scare.  There  was  a  sound  of  footsteps 
and  voices  close  at  hand,  the  brushwood  parted,  and  two 
Arabs  walking  arm  in  arm  passed  within  a  few  yards  of 
our  hiding-place.  Worse  still,  they  perceived  us  :  but 
after  the  barest  glance,  they  shouted  the  conventional 
salutation  and  passed  on.  I  breathed  again,  thinking 
that  they  had  taken  us  for  ordinary  picnickers,  and  in 
this  I  was  wrong,  for  we  were  recognized. 

The  sun  had  just  set  when  our  old  man  returned, 
running,  and  with  every  mark  of  agitation.  We  gathered 
up  our  things  the  moment  we  saw  him,  for  we  knew  at 
once  that  the  crisis  was  at  hand.  He  wasted  no  time  in 
explanation.  “  I  have  got  your  guide,”  he  panted, 
“  but  it  is  too  late  :  you  are  discovered  and  the  soldiers 


304  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


are  coming.  Keep  along  among  the  trees,  let  them  pass 
yon  and  then  dodge  back.  If  you  escape,  I  will  await 
you  after  dark  on  the  road  opposite  this  place.  God 
help  you,  my  children  ” — and  with  that  he  made  off. 
“  The  devil,”  said  I  in  English,  as  we  sprang  to  our  feet. 
“  La  haula  wala  kowatah  ilia  billahi !  ”  *  ejaculated  the 
more  pious  Ahmad. 


*  “  There  i3  no  power  or  strength  except  from  God.” 


CHAPTER  XVI 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN 

We  moved  rapidly  through  the  trees,  avoiding  all  clear¬ 
ings,  and  crouching  low  when  necessary,  till  we  came 
nearly  to  the  end  of  them.  Beyond  the  ground  was 
open,  without  cover.  The  only  thing  now  was  to  lie  as 
close  as  possible  and  hope  they  would  pass  without 
seeing  us — when  we  could  take  our  old  friend’s  advice 
and  double  back.  It  was  dusk  already,  and  in  half  an 
hour  we  should  be  safe.  We  lay  down  on  the  edge  of  a 
ring  of  trees  surrounding  an  open  space.  Five  minutes 
passed  :  “  We’ll  do  them  yet,”  I  thought.  Soldiers 

emerged  into  the  clearing,  advancing  in  skirmishing 
order,  with  rifles  at  the  ready,  step  by  step,  in  the  manner 
that  one  walks  when  following  a  wounded  leopard  in 
long  grass.  Ahmad  turned  to  me — his  eyes  gleaming. 
“  Those  men,”  he  whispered,  “  are  not  going  to  take  us 
alive.  The  time  has  come,”  and  he  cocked  his  pistol. 

I  was  in  a  difficulty,  for  though  I  thought  as  he  did, 
yet  we  were  not  at  war,  there  were  others  to  be  considered 
besides  ourselves,  and  the  first  shot  must  not  come  from 
us.  “  Put  the  pistol  down  in  front  of  you,”  I  commanded 
him,  “  surrender  if  they  offer  it.  If  not,  kill  as  many 
as  you  can,  then  run  for  it.”  Poor  Ahmad  !  I  doubt 
whether  any  of  them  would  have  been  much  the  worse 
for  it  if  he  had  fired — certainly  not  the  one  he  aimed  at. 

On  they  came  ;  we  heard  them  among  the  trees  on 
either  side,  and  one  man  advancing  from  the  front  had 
already  passed  without  seeing  us.  I  almost  thought  we 
were  going  to  escape,  when  there  was  a  sudden  outcry 
on  the  right  and  I  turned  to  find  myself  looking  down  a 
rifle-barrel,  the  owner  of  which  was  shouting  something 
in  Turkish  that  I  took  to  be  the  equivalent  in  that 
language  for  “  Hands  up  !  ” 

20  305 


306  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


We  held  up  our  hands  and  then  stood  up,  leaving  our 
weapons  on  the  ground.  We  were  surrounded  by  about 
a  dozen  Turkish  soldiers  and  twenty  or  more  Arabs,  all 
talking  at  once  and  wildly  excited.  Their  first  care  was 
to  tie  our  hands  behind  us  and  search  us  for  weapons. 
Then  one  of  them,  clubbing  his  rifle,  hit  Ahmad  a  full 
drive  in  the  chest  that  knocked  him  down.  Several  more 
then  set  on  him,  and  I  got  much  the  same  as  he  did. 
When  they  were  tired  of  this  exercise  we  were  tied  up 
still  more  securely  and  driven  back  to  Sanaa.  A  sergeant 
who  spoke  Arabic  and  seemed  to  be  in  charge  informed 
us  that  we  were  going  to  be  hanged  at  the  Bab-es-Sabah, 
where  the  gallows  had  been  already  erected.  There 
was  a  certain  improbability  about  this  statement  which 
did  not  strike  me  at  the  time  :  had  the  intention  been 
to  kill  us  they  were  hardly  likely  to  trouble  about  a 
formal  execution,  and  hangings  usually  took  place  at 
the  Bab-el- Yemen.  As  it  was,  Ahmad  somewhat  bitterly 
criticized  my  leadership  :  we  were  going  to  be  hanged,  he 
said,  like  a  pair  of  common  thieves,  instead  of  coming  to 
our  end  fighting,  in  a  manner  which  his  father  would 
have  been  proud  to  tell  of.  I  had  nothing  to  say,  and 
personally  was  too  knocked  out  of  time  to  care  very 
much  about  anything,  while  angry  enough  to  regret 
bitterly  not  having  fought  while  we  had  the  chance.  On 
the  road,  when  we  reached  it,  we  encountered  a  large 
number  of  townspeople  who  had  followed  the  soldiers 
out  from  Sanaa,  and  some  more  of  the  latter  who,  coming 
too  late  for  the  engagement,  displayed  their  heroic 
spirit  to  the  admiring  civilians  by  pointing  their  rifles 
at  us  and  spitting  in  our  faces.  At  the  gate  we  were 
lashed  together  so  tightly  that  we  could  hardly  move  at 
first,  and  surrounded  by  a  close  cordon  of  the  infantry, 
some  of  whom  asked  the  sergeant  if  they  should  not  fix 
bayonets.  I  suggested  that  they  ought  to  wait  for  the 
artillery,  a  remark  which,  fortunately  for  me,  the  Turkish 
soldiers  did  not  understand,  though  the  Arabs  did. 
The  latter  kept  aloof  throughout  and  took  no  part  in 
ill-treating  us  :  their  attitude  no  doubt  was  dictated  by 
prudence,  for  the  Imam  might  gain  the  day  after  all 
and  be  disposed  to  avenge  us. 

In  this  manner  we  were  driven  through  the  streets  of 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  307 

Sanaa,  sure  enough,  I  observed,  towards  the  Bab-es- 
Sabah,  and  not,  as  I  bad  rather  expected,  to  the  “  Hu- 
kumeh.”  When  we  got  there  it  was  nearly  dark  and 
we  could  see  no  sign  of  any  gallows.  A  great  crowd 
followed  us,  hoping  to  witness  the  execution.  Among 
the  spectators  were  many  officers,  none  of  whom  made 
the  slightest  attempt  to  take  command  of  the  party  or 
interfere  in  any  way.  Crossing  the  square  we  encountered 
the  Mudir  of  police,  who  fell  in  behind  us  after  a  brief 
question  to  the  sergeant.  It  was  then  that  I  realized 
our  destination  ;  we  were  being  taken  to  Mohammed 
Ali’s  private  house.  “Be  of  good  cheer,”  I  said  to 
Ahmad,  “  we  may  yet  live  to  know  old  age.” 

We  were  halted  in  front  of  the  door,  and  after  some 
delay  an  officer  came  to  the  window  and  shouted  some 
orders  which  resulted  in  our  being  unbound  and  led  into 
the  house.  Ahmad  remained  below,  and  I  was  escorted 
upstairs  and  into  the  presence  of  the  Vali.  “I  never  ex¬ 
pected  to  see  you  again,”  said  His  Excellency,  eyeing 
me  curiously.  “  You  never  would  have,”  I  answered 
angrily,  “  but  for  most  evil  chance.”  I  told  him  that 
if  he  wanted  me  to  talk  I  must  have  water  first.  He 
told  an  orderly  to  get  some,  and  coffee  as  well.  Reflecting 
no  doubt  that  recriminations  would  serve  no  good  purpose 
at  this  stage,  and  seeing  perhaps  that  I  had  had  about 
as  much  as  I  could  stand,  he  contented  himself  with 
asking  me,  when  I  had  drunk,  where  we  had  been  going, 
shrugged  his  shoulders  on  receiving  my  answer,  and 
continuing  the  conversation  in  French  abruptly  changed 
the  subject.  I  understood  that  he  was  proposing  to  me 
a  truce  for  the  time  being  without  prejudice  to  future 
proceedings,  and  I  had  the  sense  to  accept  the  kind  offer 
in  the  spirit  it  was  proffered  in. 

I  take  pleasure  in  admitting  that  Mohammed  Ali 
Pasha  is  one  of  the  nicest-mannered  men  I  have  ever 
met.  Our  unspoken  agreement  concluded,  he  became 
on  a  sudden  all  kindness  and  courtesy.  Dinner  would 
soon  be  ready,  he  said,  which  no  doubt  I  should  be  glad  of. 

We  sat  down  about  eight  to  this  strange  repast,  the 
others  being  the  officers  of  his  personal  staff  and  his  son, 
a  boy  of  about  twelve  years  of  age  with  long  golden 
hair,  whom  my  appearance  seemed  to  interest  greatly, 


308  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


as  well  it  might.  I  was  wearing  a  loin-cloth  belonging 
to  Ahmad,  a  black  jubbah  and  a  steel  shirt,  while  my  face 
was  stained  bright  blue.  Mohammed  Ali  seems  to  have 
thought  that  I  had  done  this  on  purpose,  but,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  it  was  indigo  from  Ahmad’s  clothes  that,  with 
perspiration,  was  responsible  for  this  surprising  effect. 
Though  it  was  by  no  means  a  bad  dinner  I  could  eat 
scarcely  anything,  though  I  enjoyed  afterwards  the  first 
cigar  I  had  smoked  since  leaving  Europe.  It  was  a 
most  curious  evening.  The  whole  affair  began  to  seem 
so  utterly  preposterous  that  I  could  hardly  believe  it 
to  be  a  real  experience.  We  sat  in  the  ante-room  for 
some  time  after  dinner  talking  on  a  variety  of  subjects. 
Hearing  that  I  had  been  in  the  Transvaal,  the  Vali  was 
interested  to  know  how  I  thought  Turkish  troops  would 
have  done  there,  and  which  seemed  to  me  the  more 
difficult  problem,  regarded  from  a  military  standpoint  : 
the  Transvaal  or  the  Yemen.  In  my  own  opinion  the 
conquest  of  the  Yemen  is  an  impossible  undertaking — 
for  the  Turks  at  any  rate — but  I  did  not  tell  him  so.  I 
said  that  the  Boers  as  adversaries  must  be  held  more 
formidable  than  the  Arabs,  owing  to  their  better  weapons 
and  straighter  shooting,  but  the  Yemen  was  the  more 
difficult  country  and  the  enemy  were  more  numerous. 
The  Turkish  infantry  would  do  well  anywhere,  but  I  did 
not  think  much  of  the  training  of  the  artillery.  That,  he 
replied,  would  improve  in  time  :  the  Arabs,  as  I  had  seen, 
were  very  good  in  defence  and  fighting  in  the  open,  but 
suffered  from  lack  of  cohesion  and  discipline,  and  could 
seldom  be  made  to  attack  a  fortified  place.  The  Boers, 
he  understood,  had  no  bayonets,  which  must  have  been 
a  handicap  to  them,  for  the  days  of  hand-to-hand  fighting 
were  not  yet  passed.  Three  weeks  after  this  conversation 
his  own  advance  guard  was  annihilated  at  Geezan,  where 
nearly  a  thousand  Turks  fell  under  the  daggers  of  the 
Idreesie’s  followers,  who  charged,  so  it  was  said,  without 
firing  a  shot. 

Discussing  the  late  Boer  war,  we  came  to  the  question 
of  the  Press,  and  how  valuable  information  sometimes 
reached  the  enemy  through  the  indiscretion  of  newspaper 
correspondents.  “  Here,”  said  the  Vali,  “  we  will  allow 
neither  war  correspondents  nor  foreign  attaches.”  I 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  309 

asked  him  44  Why  not  ?  ”  44  Because,”  he  replied,  44  we 

do  not  want  what  goes  on  here  to  he  known  in  Europe.” 
Yet  there  was  nothing  to  conceal  that  I  could  see.  The 
war,  so  far,  had  been  carried  on  in  a  manner  consistent 
with  the  most  modern  ideas  on  the  subject.  There  had 
been  no  44  atrocities  ”  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  lenience  of 
the  Turks  in  some  instances,  in  the  case  of  the  Millah 
for  example,  was  excessive  to  the  point  of  being  repre¬ 
hensible.  The  commander  might  justly  be  proud  of  the 
military  efficiency  of  his  army  and  the  methodical  manner 
in  which  the  first  stage  of  the  campaign  had  been  brought 
to  a  conclusion.  The  results  of  this  anxiety  for  secrecy 
where  there  was  no  occasion  for  it  might  be  seen  in 
the  Reuter’s  telegrams  I  had  sent  to  Izzet  Pasha,  where 
it  was  stated  among  other  odds  and  ends  of  news  about 
the  Yemen  that  18,000  Turks  had  been  killed  at  Sanaa 
alone  ! 

The  fact  is  that  the  Turks,  beside  their  instinctive 
mistrust  for  strangers,  have  a  morbid  sensibility  to  criti¬ 
cism  even  when  well  meant.  They  don’t  like  seeing 
themselves  in  print,  and  hate  being  made  fun  of.  This 
book  would  figure  in  the  44  Index  Expurgatorius  ”  of  the 
Minister  for  Education  if  for  no  other  reason  than  because 
once  or  twice  I  have  ventured  on  a  joke  at  the  expense 
of  those  in  high  places.  Ridicule  is  a  weapon  they  fear 
more  than  dynamite. 

Some  of  the  staff  wanted  to  know  where  we  had  got 
to  the  night  before,  and  if  we  had  seen  anything  of  the 
parties  sent  after  us.  I  told  them  that  one  of  these, 
which  I  fancied  was  commanded  by  the  Mudir  of  Police, 
had  nearly  ridden  over  us.  It  seemed  that  I  was  right 
about  this,  and  I  felt  sure  the  Vali  was  reflecting  that 
with  that  blithering  idiot  in  charge  nothing  better  could 
be  expected.  They  agreed  that  it  was  a  good  idea 
making  the  rendezvous  so  near  the  town  :  for  it  had  not 
occurred  to  any  one  that  we  should  not  go  straight  on 
once  we  had  got  away.  Mohammed  Ali  promised  to 
lay  hands  on  the  traitor  Muslih  if  he  could. 

Eventually  the  Mudir  of  police  was  summoned  and 
given  some  instructions  by  the  Vali,  who  then  bowed  to 
me.  Returning  his  salute  I  followed  the  Mudir,  who, 
in  turn,  handed  me  over  to  a  captain  of  police  in 


310  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


command  of  about  a  dozen  men  drawn  up  outside. 
Ahmad  was  waiting  between  two  guards,  I  was  placed 
beside  him,  and  we  were  marched  off.  The  Mudir  on 
this  occasion  allowed  his  resentment  to  get  the  better  of 
his  good  manners,  for  he  would  not  speak  to  me  or  even 
return  my  good-night.  He  had,  I  heard,  fairly  caught 
it  from  the  Vali  for  letting  us  get  away. 

The  crowd,  disappointed  of  the  promised  sensation,  had 
long  since  dispersed.  As  soon  as  we  were  out  of  sight 
of  the  Vali’s  house  the  captain  of  the  escort  came  to  my 
side.  “You  ought  to  have  been  half  way  to  Shaharah 
by  now,”  he  said.  “  What  went  wrong  ?  ”  I  told  him 
we  weren’t  going  to  Shaharah,  and  explained,  thereby 
wasting  my  breath.  “  Well,”  he  said,  “I’m  glad  we 
have  got  you  back  ;  there  has  been  enough  trouble  as 
it  is.”  I  asked  what  he  thought  would  be  done  to  us. 
He  had  no  idea  :  it  would  depend  on  what  line  Izzet 
Pasha  took  :  they  would  probably  wire  to  Stamboul 
for  instructions.  We  were  to  be  imprisoned  in  the 
Hukumeh,  and  not  in  the  fort,  which  was  full  for  one 
thing.  “  Full  of  what  ?  ”  I  asked,  much  surprised,  for 
the  prisoners,  with  the  exception  of  the  Millah,  had  been 
long  since  released.  “  The  head  men  of  the  villages  who 
were  brought  in  last  night,  about  one  hundred  of  them  : 
it  was  thought  that  you  might  have  made  arrange¬ 
ments  with  some  of  them  to  help  you.”  “  Heavens  !  ” 
I  said,  “  I  knew  the  Vali  would  not  like  it,  but 
I  had  no  idea  he  would  take  all  that  trouble  about 
me.”  “  Indeed  he  did,”  answered  the  captain,  “  and 
more.  No  one  slept  in  Sanaa  last  night :  the  whole 
garrison  was  out  looking  for  you,  and  expeditions  have 
been  sent  to  Khaulan  and  many  other  places.”  I  began 
to  feel  like  the  lady  who,  oversleeping  herself  on  a  certain 
occasion,  awoke  to  find  herself  infamous. 

This  officer,  a  Circassian,  had  been  employed  in  shadow¬ 
ing  us  in  Hodeidah,  and  was  the  first  to  suspect  that  we 
had  departed.  He  had  later  followed  us  up  to  Sanaa 
and  had  arrived  at  Mat  in  ah  just  in  time  to  take  part 
in  the  defence  of  that  place. 

At  the  Hukumeh  I  found  that  a  room  generally  used 
as  an  office  had  been  cleared  for  my  accommodation. 
It  contained  a  settee  and  a  couple  of  chairs.  Ahmad 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  311 


was  confined  in  the  common  guard-room  the  other  side 
of  the  passage  and  fared  in  this  matter  better  than  I 
did,  for  he  had  other  malefactors,  beside  the  Arab  gen¬ 
darmes,  for  company  during  the  term  of  our  incarceration. 
He  and  I  were  not  allowed  to  have  any  further  com¬ 
munication  with  one  another. 

The  captain  and  some  other  police  officers  stayed 
with  me  while,  at  my  request,  a  man  was  sent  to  my 
house  to  bring  blankets.  The  house  had  been  taken 
over  by  the  Sheria  *  court.  Suleiman  was  imprisoned 
in  the  fort.  I  asked  after  Hamdi  Effendi  and  was  told 
he  also  was  in  prison.  They  were  very  anxious  to  know 
exactly  what  he  had  done  when  we  escaped.  “  He  did 
nothing,”  I  said;  “what  could  he  do?”  “Did  not  he 
shoot  at  you  ?  ”  asked  the  captain.  “  No,”  I  said,  “  he 
did  not.”  This  seemed  to  amuse  them  greatly  :  the 
point  of  the  joke  and  the  explanation  of  several  other 
matters  may  best  be  given  by  quoting  the  statement 
made  by  Sergeant-Major  M.,  a  Yemen  Arab  belonging 
to  the  corps  of  gendarmerie,  to  the  Consul  and  myself 
at  Hodeidah. 

He  was  acting  as  orderly  to  the  Vali  on  the  night 
of  our  escape  from  Sanaa.  The  policeman  who  was 
with  us  (Hamdi  Effendi)  lost  his  head  after  we  rode 
away  from  him.  He  did  not  give  the  alarm  at  once,  but 
returned  first  to  his  house  to  get  his  revolver,  which  he 
had  forgotten  that  day.  He  then  burst  in  upon  the  Vali, 
who  was  having  dinner,  and  said  that  we  had  escaped  at 
sundown  and  that  he  had  fired  six  shots  at  us,  but  missed  * 
It  was  by  this  time  nearly  eight  o’clock,  and  an  examina¬ 
tion  of  his  revolver  disclosed  the  fact  that  not  only 
had  it  not  been  fired,  but  was  broken,  which  he  explained 
by  saying  that  the  last  shot  had  blown  it  open.  He 
was  told  that  if  we  were  not  captured  within  forty-eight 
hours  he  would  be  hanged,  and  in  the  meantime  he  was 
imprisoned  in  the  Hukumeh  along  with  most  of  the 
other  police  who  had  been  told  off  to  guard  us  ;  they  were 
in  irons  till  we  were  retaken.  He  did  not  know  if  it 
were  true  that  the  Mudir  was  under  arrest,  but  he  was 
sent  with  one  of  the  patrols.  The  official  idea  was  that 

*  The  Sheria,  i.e.  the  Moslem  religious  law,  is  the  only  legal  code 
in  fore©  in  the  Yemen. 


312  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


I  had  arranged  with  the  Imam  for  a  party  to  meet  me 
during  the  night  between  Sanaa  and  Haddah,  or  else 
was  making  for  Khaulan.  For  this  reason  the  parties 
sent  in  pursuit  were  strong  enough  to  deal  with  any  force 
they  were  likely  to  encounter.  Their  instructions  were 
to  “  take  us  alive  if  possible.”  No  one  in  Sanaa,  however, 
expected  to  see  us  again,  dead  or  alive,  and  when  the 
patrols  began  to  return  empty-handed  the  following  day 
no  one  doubted  but  that  we  were  safely  with  the  Imam. 

When  we  were  captured  twenty-four  hours  later  within 
half  a  mile  of  Sanaa,  no  one  knew  what  to  think.  A 
great  number  of  the  officers,  Izzet  Pasha  among  them, 
concluded  that  their  suspicions  were  unfounded  after  all. 
Others,  including  the  Vali,  still  clung  to  the  spy  idea, 
and  many  wanted  to  court-martial  us.  Izzet  Pasha 
insisted  on  referring  to  Stamboul  for  instructions,  and 
the  order  came  that  we  were  to  be  returned  to  Hodeidah 
forthwith.  The  soldiers  who  had  ill-treated  us  were  all 
imprisoned  directly  Izzet  Pasha  heard  what  had  hap¬ 
pened. 

This  account  of  what  happened  was  confirmed  in  all 
essential  particulars  by  what  we  heard  both  before  and 
after  it  was  given.  It  explained  what  had  puzzled 
Ahmad  and  myself,  namely  the  delay  in  starting  the 
pursuit  and  the  fact  that  they  made  no  attempt  to 
“  drive  ”  for  us. 

•  •  •  •  • 

I  will  pass  over  the  time  we  spent  in  prison  in  as  few 
words  as  possible.  We  were  searched  and  relieved  of  all 
papers,  among  them  the  “  Turkish  ”  passport  I  had 
used  on  the  Mecca  journey.  My  shirt  of  mail,  which  was 
taken,  was  destined  to  figure  among  the  other  “  exhibits.” 
I  was  very  closely  guarded  :  a  sentry  with  fixed  bayonet 
guarded  the  door  and  another  the  window,  which  was 
strongly  barred.  We  were  allowed  to  order  what  food 
we  required  from  the  “steward,”  who  got  it  from  the 
market,  and,  as  I  had  plenty  of  money,  we  suffered  no 
hardship  in  this  respect.  We  were  not  allowed  table 
knives  or  even  a  safety  razor,  for  fear,  so  they  told  us, 
that  we  might  commit  suicide.  This  looked  ominous. 

For  many  days  I  was  doubtful  as  to  the  fate  in  store 
for  us.  I  applied  at  once  for  leave  to  telegraph  to  the 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  313 

Consul  to  inform  him  of  our  situation,  but  it  was  refused 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  already  been  fully  informed. 
As  time  passed  and  no  communication  from  him  reached 
me,  I  got  rather  depressed.  I  knew  that  we  could  not 
legally  be  tried,  even  by  court-martial,  unless  he  or  his 
representative  were  present,  and  I  began  to  think  he  must 
be  coming  up  to  Sanaa  himself  for  that  purpose.  One 
day  when  I  got  them  with  great  difficulty  to  take  us  to 
the  public  bath,  of  which  we  were  much  in  need,  we 
overheard  a  certain  Colonel  Riza  Bey  say  that  we  were 
going  to  be  tried  and  would  certainly  be  hanged,  which, 
though  I  did  not  believe  it,  was  still  rather  unpleasant. 
Even  sentenced  prisoners  in  chains  are  taken  to  the 
“  Hamam  ”  in  places  like  Sanaa. 

The  day  after  our  capture  I  was  examined  by  a  police 
officer,  who  asked  a  long  series  of  questions,  which  he  took 
down  with  my  answers  to  them.  They  told  me  that  this 
examination  was  strictly  speaking  irregular  in  the  absence 
of  the  Consular  dragoman,  but  this  formality  might  be 
dispensed  with  in  my  case  on  account  of  my  knowledge 
of  Arabic.  I  made  no  objection  till  I  found  that  I  was 
expected  to  sign  a  document  written  in  Turkish.  Most 
of  the  questions  put  to  me  were  quite  irrelevant.  One  of 
them  was,  “  Who  was  William  the  Conqueror  ?  ”  It 
arose  from  the  difficulty  that  even  educated  Turks  find 
in  comprehending  our  system  of  family  names. 

With  Ahmad  it  was  otherwise.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  get  him  to  turn  “  Sultan’s  evidence.”  The 
Mudir  himself  several  times  cross-examined  him,  pro¬ 
mising  safety  and  reward  if  he  would  tell  all  he  knew. 
Ahmad,  of  course,  stuck  to  it  that  we  were  going  to 
Marib,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Imam. 

On  one  occasion  I  was  escorted  to  my  late  residence, 
to  take  over  from  the  Sheria  court  the  property  I  had  left 
there.  I  found,  needless  to  say,  that  many  things  of 
value  had  disappeared.  After  everything  that  could  be 
used  as  a  weapon  had  been  removed,  I  was  allowed  to 
send  the  rest  of  my  belongings  to  my  cell  at  the  Hukumeh. 
Among  the  things  that  escaped  the  vigilance  of  the 
police  on  this  occasion  were  a  small  case  of  surgical  in¬ 
struments  and  a  four-ounce  bottle  of  chloroform.  The 
former  came  in  very  handy,  as  I  dislike  eating  meat  with- 


314  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


out  a  knife,  and  the  latter  might  well  have  been  useful 
for  other  than  suicidal  purposes. 

After  some  days  the  Mudir  came  in  to  see  me,  shook 
hands  and  offered  me  a  cigarette.  We  could  not  converse 
with  one  another,  as  I  know  very  little  Turkish,  but  I 
gathered  that  he  wished  to  make  it  up.  Perhaps  he 
considered  that  the  inconveniences  he  himself  had 
suffered  were  atoned  for  by  the  beating  we  had  received. 
For  this,  by  the  way,  except  for  bruises,  we  were  little  the 
worse,  thanks  in  my  case  to  the  much-abused  mail  shirt. 
Ahmad,  like  most  Arabs,  weighs  nothing  and  seems 
made  of  steel  rope  and  india-rubber. 

Hamdi  Effendi  was  unchained  when  we  were  taken 
and  put  under  ordinary  arrest.  He  was  sent  to  spend 
some  time  in  the  guard-room,  which  was  really  rather 
a  harsh  measure,  for  Ahmad  had  quite  recovered  his 
usual  spirits.  Unluckily  for  Hamdi  he  had  been  told  of 
the  broken  pistol,  and  that  incident,  with  that  of  the 
now  famous  starched  collar,  was  indeed  good  material 
for  him  to  work  on.  Poor  Hamdi !  when  I  next  saw  him 
he  seemed  to  have  lost  several  stone  in  weight.  During 
the  time  that  we  were  at  large  he  had  vowed  the  sacrifice 
of  several  sheep  if  he  were  delivered  ;  and  they  were 
duly  offered  up  before  we  left  Sanaa. 

On  some  days  I  was  visited  for  a  short  time  by  the 
Mudir  or  one  of  the  police  officers,  on  others  I  saw  no 
one  except  the  steward  who  brought  the  food.  When 
we  had  been  thus  confined  for  about  ten  days,  all  the 
restrictions  were  suddenly  relaxed.  This  I  concluded 
to  be  due  either  to  action  taken  by  the  Consul  or  orders 
from  Stamboul.  The  Vali,  I  was  pleased  to  hear,  had 
started  for  Hodeidah  with  a  large  force.  I  was  pleased 
because  I  felt  sure  that  had  they  intended  any  serious  pro¬ 
ceedings  against  us  he  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  go. 

I  was  told  that  I  might  go  out  for  exercise  if  I  liked, 
and,  as  owing  to  my  foot  having  suppurated  I  could  not 
walk,  I  was  allowed  to  ride.  My  escort,  a  police  officer, 
kept  very  close,  and  wore  in  a  conspicuous  position  the 
instrument  that  Hamdi  had  so  unwisely  left  at  home 
on  a  memorable  occasion.  We  did  not  go  anywhere 
near  the  gates. 

In  the  town  I  met  a  certain  Colonel  Fattah  Bey  whose 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  315 

acquaintance  I  had  made  during  the  first  few  days  of 
my  stay  in  Sanaa.  He  was  commandant  of  the  en¬ 
gineers  in  the  Yemen,  and  had  been  educated  in  Germany. 
Always  genial,  he  had  never  failed  to  stop  and  speak  to 
me,  even  during  the  siege,  when  no  one  else  dared  to. 
I  was  glad  to  find  that  recent  events  had  not  forfeited 
for  me  his  good  opinion — in  fact,  rather  the  reverse  it 
seemed,  for  on  this  occasion  he  was  positively  hilarious. 
“When  are  you  going  back?  55  he  asked.  “I  expect 
you  know  more  about  that  than  I  do,”  I  responded. 
Dropping  his  voice,  with  a  glare  at  my  escort,  who  had 
halted  at  a  respectful  distance,  “  You’re  all  right,”  he 
said  ;  “I  can  tell  you  that.” 

The  next  day  I  received  a  visit  from  Major  Hartfi 
Bey,  the  commandant  of  gendarmerie,  who  had  been  sent 
with  a  force  to  Khaulan  in  pursuit  of  us,  and  had  just 
returned.  I  remembered  him  at  once,  for  he  had  been 
with  us  on  board  the  “  Missieh  ”  from  Suez  to  Hodeidah. 
He  laughed  heartily  at  my  account  of  our  escape.  “  You 
really  do  deserve  to  get  something  for  giving  us  all  this 
trouble,”  he  remarked,  “  and  now  they  say  you  were 
not  going  to  Shaharah  after  all.”  I  explained  for  the 
hundredth  time.  “  You  have  indeed  a  strange  way  of 
amusing  yourself,”  he  reflected,  and  turned  to  translate  to 
another  officer  he  had  brought  with  him,  who  had  also, 
it  seemed,  commanded  a  patrol  that  night.  The  latter, 
one  of  the  old  school,  said  nothing,  and  sat  gazing  stolidly 
at  the  strange  phenomenon.  It  is  annoying  to  feel 
that  one  is  exchanging  the  reputation  of  a  spy  for  that 
of  a  lunatic  ;  but  this  was  the  most  that  my  efforts  ever 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  with  the  Turks. 

Finally,  towards  the  end  of  the  second  week  of  our  im¬ 
prisonment,  the  Mudir  came  one  day  with  the  announce¬ 
ment  that  we  were  to  start  for  Hodeidah  the  following 
day,  and  he  himself  was  going  to  escort  us.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  I  first  heard  the  good  news  from  the  steward,  who 
told  me  that  a  telegram  had  come  about  us  the  night 
before.  It  is  wonderful  how  in  Turkish  countries  in¬ 
formation  supposed  to  be  secret  leaks  out.  A  cipher 
message  comes  for  an  official,  and  the  whole  town  knows 
its  contents  an  hour  later. 

I  was  not  destined  to  leave  Sanaa  without  being 


316  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


given  yet  another  object-lesson  in  their  comic-opera 
methods  of  doing  business.  Muslih,  I  must  explain, 
had  been  arrested  shortly  after  our  recapture,  but 
though  I  had  been  asked  to  identify  him  I  had  not  been 
told  what  it  was  intended  to  do  with  him.  Whether 
he  was  to  give  evidence  against  me,  or  I  against  him,  I 
did  not  know.  I  had  refused  to  make  any  statement 
whatsoever  concerning  any  dealings  I  might  or  might 
not  have  had  with  others  in  Sanaa,  merely  shrugging 
my  shoulders  in  reply  to  questions  on  the  subject,  but 
as  regards  this  man  I  had  no  objection  to  stating  what 
I  knew  of  him  because  after  his  treacherous  conduct  he 
deserved  no  consideration,  and  moreover  the  truth  tended 
to  exculpate  both  of  us  from  the  graver  charge  of  being 
in  league  with  the  enemy.  In  consequence  of  this  reticence 
the  authorities  had  not  known  what  part  exactly  Sulie- 
man  the  cook  had  played  in  the  business,  and  had  been 
alternately  imprisoning  and  releasing  him.  When  the 
Mudir  had  gone  two  Arab  scribes  came  in,  one  of  whom 
told  me  that  he  was  the  clerk  of  the  Kadhi’s  court,  and 
had  come  to  take  down  my  “  statement  of  evidence  ” 
concerning  Muslih,  as  I  should  not  be  present  to  bear 
witness  at  his  trial.  I  made  the  required  statement,  which 
was  duly  signed,  sealed,  and  witnessed.  They  then  re¬ 
tired  to  do  the  like  with  Ahmad,  who,  in  the  matter  of 
giving  information  to  the  police,  had  adopted  exactly 
the  same  attitude  as  I  had  myself. 

Towards  evening,  when  busy  packing  what  remained 
of  my  property  into  saddle  bags,  in  preparation  for  our 
departure  on  the  morrow,  there  was  a  clash  of  grounded 
arms  without,  the  door  opened,  and  a  policeman  entered 
and  informed  me  that  I  was  about  to  appear  before  the 
Kadhi.  “  More  trouble,”  I  thought.  I  was  escorted  to 
the  room  in  the  same  building  that  served  as  a  court — 
in  view  of  my  own  experience  we  will  not  describe  it  as 
a  court  of  justice.  At  one  end,  behind  a  green  baize 
table  laden  with  ponderous-looking  books  and  equally 
formidable  writing  materials,  sat  the  Kadhi  himself — 
a  fine  old  man,  with  fierce  eyes  and  a  long  white  beard, 
dressed  in  the  elegant  costume  of  the  Hedjaz,  with  an 
enormous  white  turban.  His  appearance  was  enough 
to  strike  terror  into  the  heart  of  any  evil-doer,  and  I 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  317 

mentally  ran  over  the  offences  against  the  religious  law 
of  which  I  had  lately  been  guilty.  I  hoped  he  had  not 
heard  of  our  hashish-smoking,  or  discovered  the  true 
nature  of  the  liquid  which  Signor  Caprotti  had  been 
sending  me  for  the  last  few  days  in  a  sparklet  siphon, 
ingenuously  representing  to  the  authorities  that  it  was 
lemonade.  The  prescribed  punishment  for  these  offences, 
so  far  as  I  could  recollect,  was  forty  lashes,  but  being 
a  “  Hagi  ”  I  might  get  more.  This  terrible  man  had 
two  assessors  beside  him  on  the  bench.  I  was  placed  on 
a  chair  beside  Ahmad,  who  had  preceded  me  under 
a  strong  guard,  and  was  sitting  there  regarding  the 
majesty  of  the  law  with  a  becomingly  demure  expression. 
There  were  a  lot  of  people  in  court  talking  and  laughing, 
and  on  a  chair  placed  opposite  to  us  I  was  astonished  to 
perceive  that  scoundrel  Muslih,  who  was  interjecting  the 
words  “  Allahu  Akbar  ”  (God  is  great)  with  a  monotonous 
regularity  only  equalled  by  their  eternal  truth  and  utter 
irrelevance. 

Commanding  silence  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  to  which  no 
one  paid  the  slightest  attention,  the  Kadhi  directed  the 
statement  of  claim  to  be  read.  The  clerk  of  the  court 
arose  thereupon  and  began  to  read  aloud  the  statement  of 
evidence  I  had  made  that  morning.  Overcoming  with 
a  great  effort  my  innate  respect  for  all  forms  of  constituted 
authority,  courts  of  law  in  especial,  I  rose  to  a  point  of 
order,  and,  bidding  the  clerk  be  silent,  asked  the  Kadhi 
what  the  case  he  was  trying  was  about.  He  obligingly 
informed  me  that  it  was  a  civil  action,  in  which  Ahmad 
and  I,  the  plaintiffs,  were  suing  Muslih,  the  defendant, 
for  the  return  of  certain  articles  that  it  was  alleged 
we  had  handed  over  to  him.  “  But,  0  Judge  of  the 
judges,”  I  said,  “  I  have  no  intention  of  bringing 
such  an  action  ;  and  could  not  if  I  would,  for,  as  your 
presence  is  aware,  we  are  foreign  subjects.” 

“  Ya  walad,”  said  the  presence,  with  more  benignance 
than  politeness,  “  ’tis  by  order  of  the  Vali.  Let  the 
reading  proceed.” 

When  the  “  claims  ”  had  been  recited  the  Kadhi  called 
for  the  witnesses,  and  at  this  point  a  subaltern  of  the 
gendarmerie,  who  said  he  was  acting  for  us,  got  up  and 
announced  that  there  weren’t  any  :  because  Ahmad  and 


318  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN.  MECCA 

myself,  as  plaintiffs,  could  not  give  evidence  in  our  own 
case,  and  the  only  other  witness,  Suleiman,  my  late  cook, 
had  been  released  from  prison  the  day  before,  and  could 
not  now  be  found.  He  had  stated,  however,  previous 
to  his  release  that  he  knew  nothing  whatever  about  it, 
and  had  never  in  his  life  set  eyes  on  Muslih  the  defendant. 
“  Of  small  moment  is  his  absence,”  observed  the  Kadhi, 
‘  ‘  since  the  Holy  Sheria  does  not  permit  the  evidence  of 
a  servant  to  be  accepted  in  such  a  case.”  At  this  point 
I  again  interrupted,  pointing  out  that  as  the  plaintiffs 
did  not  want  to  bring  the  action,  and  there  were  no 
witnesses  even  if  they  did,  there  seemed  little  use  in 
having  a  trial  at  all — especially  as  the  whole  proceedings 
were  utterly  illegal  from  start  to  finish. 

After  reflection  the  Kadhi  announced  that  he  would 
defer  further  consideration  of  this  case  pending  more 
explicit  information  concerning  it,  and,  no  doubt, 
though  he  did  not  say  so,  pending  more  explicit  instruc¬ 
tions  as  to  the  decision  he  was  expected  to  arrive  at. 

I  returned  to  my  cell  to  find  to  my  delight  no  less  a 
person  than  Signor  Caprotti  awaiting  me.  For  some 
days  past  he  had  been  allowed  to  send  me  things,  food 
and  drink  (not  lemonade),  but  I  had  received  no  direct 
communication  from  him.  That  evening,  however, 
being  informed  of  what  was  happening,  he  had  obtained 
permission  to  see  me.  After  a  short  conversation  he 
asked  the  officer  of  police  who  was  present  at  our  inter¬ 
view  whether  there  was  any  chance  of  my  being  allowed 
to  dine  with  him.  The  officer  did  not  think  so,  but 
would  apply  to  the  Mudir.  I  then  offered  to  give  parole 
for  the  evening  if  this  favour  were  accorded.  After 
a  very  long  delay,  due  to  the  Mudir  in  turn  having 
to  apply  to  the  acting  Vali,  permission  was  granted 
subject  to  the  reservation  that  an  officer  should  be 
with  me  throughout.  This  tacit  refusal  of  my  parole 
annoyed  me,  for  I  had  intended  to  offer  it  for  the  journey 
down  to  the  coast,  which  would  have  saved  much  trouble 
to  both  sides.  I  put  down  this  insult  on  the  debit 
side  of  a  long  account  to  be  settled  some  day,  Inshallah, 
and  in  the  meantime  went  to  supper  with  Signor  Caprotti, 
policeman  and  all.  We  judged  it  wiser — for  this  man 
knew  something,  at  any  rate,  of  the  language — to  avoid 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  319 

all  mention  of  recent  occurrences,  but  we  had  an  excellent 
supper  and  parted  late  at  night,  hoping  to  meet  again 
in  more  pleasant  conditions. 

We  left  Sanaa  at  dawn  the  next  day  and  I  was  almost 
as  glad  to  see  the  last  of  the  place  as  I  had  been  to  catch 
first  sight  of  it.  Our  party  consisted  of  the  Mudir, 
an  officer  of  the  police,  Hamdi  Effendi,  and  about  half-a- 
dozen  Arab  riflemen,  all  mounted.  We  started  with  an 
infantry  escort  of  about  fifty  men,  but  this  varied  in 
strength.  I  was  puzzled  to  know  why  they  were  taking 
Hamdi  Effendi,  who,  though  much  subdued,  seemed  to 
be  no  longer  under  arrest.  I  had  done  my  best  for  him, 
offering  to  make  oath  if  necessary  that  he  was  not 
suborned. 

Ahmad  and  I  were  not  tied  up  in  any  way  even  at 
night,  as  the  steward  at  the  Hukumeh,  usually  well  in¬ 
formed,  had  thought  that  we  should  be.  We  were  of 
course  unarmed.  The  gendarme  officer  was  wearing 
my  sword  and  revolver,  which  would,  he  told  me,  be 
handed  over  to  the  Consul  in  Hodeidah,  together  with 
the  pistol  and  dagger  found  on  Ahmad,  which  were  also 
in  safe  keeping.  The  soldiers  who  made  us  prisoners 
had  plundered  us  of  all  we  were  carrying  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  the  money,  which  they  failed  to  discover.  A 
curious  thing  happened  in  this  connection  :  the  weapons, 
as  evidence  against  us,  were  duly  handed  over  to  the 
authorities,  and  the  other  things  disappeared  equally 
as  a  matter  of  course,  with  two  exceptions,  my  compass, 
which  nobody  would  have  known  how  to  use,  and  a  half¬ 
chronometer  watch  which,  judging  I  suppose  by  its  size 
and  absence  of  decoration,  they  concluded  to  be  of  little 
value.  It  was  worth  several  times  as  much  as  all  the 
things  they  did  take  put  together. 

At  Sook-el-Khamis,  where  we  passed  the  first  night, 
tents  were  pitched  for  us  in  the  enclosure  before  the  house 
of  the  commandant.  We  thus  to  some  extent  escaped 
the  vermin,  which  I  had  been  rather  dreading.  The 
Mudir  and  I  slept  in  one  tent,  Ahmad  and  the  gendarme 
in  the  other.  We  had  a  sentry  apiece  before  the  door, 
and  a  light  was  kept  burning  all  night.  Every  time  the 
sentries  were  relieved  I  was  awakened  so  that  the  one 
coming  on  duty  might  assure  himself  that  I  was  really 


320  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


there  when  he  took  over.  They  evidently  did  not  mean 
to  let  us  get  away  this  time,  and  I  was  vain  enough  to 
feel  rather  pleased  at  the  extreme  precautions  con¬ 
sidered  necessary  to  prevent  it. 

The  veneer  of  Western  civilization  that  deceives  the 
superficial  observer  as  to  the  true  character  of  the  modern 
Turks  wears  thin  in  some  conditions.  This  Mudir  was 
the  chief  of  all  the  police  in  the  Yemen  and  one  of  the 
high  officials  of  the  province  :  he  ranked,  I  believe;  imme¬ 
diately  after  a  Lieutenant-Governor.  Yet  no  arrange¬ 
ments  were  made  for  his  accommodation  on  the  road. 
At  most  of  the  places  we  stopped  at  the  ordinary  rest- 
house.  He  had  no  servant  and  no  cook.  We  set  out 
from  Sanaa  with  a  few  pounds  of  biscuits,  some  tea, 
and  some  tins  of  sardines.  Fortunately  Ahmad’s  accom¬ 
plishments  as  a  chef  are  not  to  be  despised,  and  at  Me- 
nakha  I  got  them  to  let  him  buy  a  cooking-pot  and  the 
necessary  materials.  Thenceforward  we  fared  better  : 
Ahmad  prepared  baked  meat  and  rice  in  an  earthenware 
pot,  and  there  sat  down  to  the  repast  on  one  occasion  at 
the  same  time  the  Mudir  himself,  the  lieutenant  of  gen¬ 
darmerie  (a  commissioned  officer),  Hamdi  Effendi,  an  Arab 
sergeant-major,  a  private  soldier,  and  Ahmad  and  myself, 
the  prisoners,  who  were  not  allowed  knives  to  eat  with  ! 

Sometimes  they  go  to  the  opposite  extreme  :  I  have 
known  a  general  who  would  not  allow  his  staff  officers 
to  sit  down  in  his  presence. 

I  liked  the  Mudir,  who  was  always  civil  and  did  his 
best  to  make  the  journey  as  pleasant  for  me  as  the 
peculiar  circumstances  would  allow.  I  was  not  the  first, 
it  seemed,  to  whom  his  duty  had  compelled  him  to  act 
harshly  when  his  inclinations  were  all  the  other  way. 
He  instanced  a  German  anarchist  who  had  come  to 
Stamboul  to  assassinate  Abdul  Hamid,  and  whose  arrest 
by  himself,  the  Mudir,  had  been  one  of  the  successes  that 
had  brought  him  to  the  front  of  his  profession.  This 
anarchist  was  a  most  charming  companion,  he  assured 
me,  and  I  felt  pleased  at  the  implied  compliment,  which 
was  evidently  none  the  less  sincere  for  being  a  little 
invidious. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  I  think  he  mistook  his  vocation 
when  he  became  a  policeman.  It  is  a  striking  perversity 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  321 

of  human  nature  that  people  always  seem  to  want  to 
do  the  things  for  which  they  have  the  least  natural 
aptitude.  How  often  one  sees  the  priest  who  was  ob¬ 
viously  intended  by  Providence  for  a  soldier,  and  vice 
versa.  Force  of  circumstances,  no  doubt,  is  often 
responsible  for  this,  but  more  often  still  is  it  due  to  lack 
of  self-appreciation.  This  particular  man,  the  Mudir 
of  police,  belonged  to  the  type  of  good-tempered,  easy¬ 
going  people  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  annoy,  and 
that  has  a  perfect  genius  for  making  a  mess  of  the 
simplest  things.  I  believe  that  I  myself  am  about  the 
only  person  who  has  ever  succeeded  in  making  him  really 
angry,  and  even  I  was  quite  forgiven  long  before  we 
parted.  He  was  fond  of  gardening,  and  a  little  time  before 
had  got  a  patent  pump  out  from  Europe  for  irrigation 
purposes.  Naturally,  in  putting  it  together  he  had 
managed  to  hurt  his  hand.  On  the  way  down  I  dressed 
it  for  him  with  “Pond’s  Extract.”  This  touching 
episode  was  quoted  by  the  Sublime  Porte  as  proving 
the  good  relations  existing  between  us.  I  am  glad  to 
hear  he  was  cured  :  had  he  got  tetanus  and  died,  they 
would  certainly  have  said  I  poisoned  him. 

Speaking  of  doctoring,  I  may  remark  that  for  the 
traveller  in  Arabia,  even  more  than  elsewhere,  it  is  an 
invaluable  accomplishment.  The  Arabs  regard  the  doc¬ 
tor  with  great  reverence,  more  especially  if  he  comes 
from  the  land  of  marvels,  “Auroba,”  and  is  furnished 
with  an  imposing  array  of  books  and  bright  instruments. 
The  simplest  surgical  operation  seems  to  them  something 
far  more  wonderful  than  does  an  aeroplane.  The  traveller 
who  professes  the  healing  art  may  count  on  a  welcome 
where  otherwise  he  would  meet  with  hostility.  “  Yes, 
but  what  happens  when  your  cases  go  wrong  ?  ”  the 
non-professional  reader  may  well  ask.  “  Does  not  that 
lead  to  trouble  ?  ”  By  no  means.  The  Arabian  doctor 
slightly  varies  a  famous  mot :  “I  treated  him,”  he 
says,  “  and  God  killed  him  !  ” 

On  this  journey  my  knowledge  of  doctoring  was,  I 
must  admit,  of  little  use.  During  the  siege  the  im¬ 
prisoning  of  every  one  who  came  to  my  house  prevented 
my  being  consulted.  No  practice  can  be  expected  to 
stand  that  sort  of  thing. 

21 


322  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


I  had  only  one  patient,  as  a  matter  of  fact ;  the  quarter¬ 
master  of  an  infantry  regiment  who  had  swallowed  his 
false  teeth.  As  I  could  find  no  trace  of  them  in  the 
oesophagus  and  did  not  consider  that  gastrotomy  would 
be  “either  equitable  or  desirable,”  as  they  say  in  the 
Foreign  Office,  I  contented  myself  with  advising  him  to 
get  a  new  set.  After  the  siege  I  had  several  more  who, 
though  I  was  always  careful  to  explain  that  I  was  not 
qualified,  preferred  coming  to  me  to  going  to  the  hospital 
or  consulting  the  Turkish  doctors,  because  I  was  an 
Englishman  ;  that  ipso  facto  was  a  qualification  sufficient 
for  them. 

The  Turkish  medical  service  is  not  good,  but  the  Turks, 
when  properly  trained,  make  good  doctors  and  so  do 
the  Arabs.  Once  in  Syria  I  saw  an  Arab  perform  one  of 
the  major  operations  of  surgery.  His  practical  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  subject  had  been  gained  by  six  months  spent 
in  a  Vienna  hospital,  but,  as  he  naively  admitted,  his 
difficulty  in  understanding  German  had  prevented  his  pro¬ 
fiting  by  this  experience  to  the  extent  he  ought  to  have 
done  Otherwise  he  had  learned  entirely  from  books, 
and  had  got  a  degree — of  sorts  ! 

His  anaesthetist,  a  youth  in  a  “  Kuftan  ”  which  had 
seen  better  days,  had  a  way  of  administering  chloroform 
that  was  alarming,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  There  were 
about  a  dozen  privileged  spectators  in  the  room  itself, 
and  a  large  crowd  at  the  window,  but  this  surgeon  did 
not  suffer  from  stage  fright,  or  any  other  sort,  I  fancy. 
When  all  was  ready  he  pronounced  the  name  of  God, 
and  started  operating  with  a  rapidity  and  seeming  skill 
that  surprised  me.  The  patient  was  a  boy  about  fourteen 
years  of  age,  and  the  operation  was  for  the  radical  cure  of 
congenital  inguinal  hernia.  At  the  end  there  seemed 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  successful.  The  surgeon 
afterwards  took  me  round  his  hospital — which  he  had 
built  himself — and  showed  me  his  other  cases.  Con¬ 
sidering  the  conditions  his  results  were  truly  astonishing. 
I  believe  he  would  undertake  anything  short  of  capital 
amputation,  and  that,  like  all  true  Arabs,  he  looks  forward 
to  achieving  in  the  next  war. 

At  Menakha  we  stayed  at  the  “  Kuloob,”  a  small  house 
built  for  the  accommodation  of  official  travellers,  and 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  323 


connected  in  some  obscure  way  with  Freemasonry. 
Not  being  a  freemason  myself  I  have  been  much  puzzled 
by  certain  things  concerning  the  brotherhood  in  the  East, 
and  should  be  glad  of  information  on  the  following 
points..  What  is  the  difference  between  freemasonry 
in  England  and  in  Turkey  ?  The  latter  seems  to  be  more 
a  political  association  than  anything  else.  Would  an 
English  mason  be  admitted  to  a  Turkish  lodge — in  a  place 
like  Sanaa  for  instance  ?  If  it  is  a  fact,  as  I  have  heard 
stated  by  an  Englishman,  that  there  are  many  freemasons 
among  the  Bedou  Arabs,  how  has  this  come  about,  and 
why  do  not  the  Turkish  freemasons  recognize  them  as 
such  ? 

Soon  after  our  arrival  we  were  visited  by  the  Herze¬ 
govinian  commandant,  a  noted  character,  the  gendarme 
told  me,  famous  for  his  courage  and  ferocity  as  well  as 
for  the  number  of  battles  in  which  he  had  been  engaged. 
He  looked  it  too  :  a  regular  soldier  of  fortune,  such 
as  flourished  in  days  gone  by  when  all  the  world  was  at 
war.  He  had  enormous  moustaches  and  a  countenance 
dry  and  brown  as  the  high  veld  in  August,  a  voice  like 
a  fog-horn,  and  a  fine  assortment  of  strange  oaths  in 
several  languages.  He  and  the  Mudir  were  evidently 
old  friends,  and  I  myself  was  known  to  him  by  reputation 
— so  it  seemed. 

He  insisted  that  we  must  all  come  to  dinner  with 
him,  and  when  the  Mudir  at  last  made  him  understand 
that  this  was  impossible,  on  my  account,  the  commandant 
was  in  no  wise  disconcerted.  Like  Mohammed  and  the 
mountain,  if  we  would  not  come  to  his  dinner,  he  and 
the  dinner  would  come  to  us.  At  sundown,  after  we 
had  washed  and  changed  our  clothes,  sure  enough  he 
appeared,  with  another  Kaimakam  (colonel),  followed 
by  a  couple  of  orderlies  carrying  a  table,  glasses,  and 
several  bottles  bearing  a  well-known  label,  which  they 
set  before  us.  Ahmad  was  asked  to  make  one  of  the 
convives ,  but  I  did  not  wish  him  to  add  a  taste  for  absinthe 
to  his  other  vicious  propensities,  and  sent  him  to  keep 
company  with  Hamdi  and  the  gendarmerie  subaltern, 
who,  not  receiving  the  honour  of  an  invitation,  sat  on  a 
couch  at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  and  watched  the 
debauch  that  ensued  with  hungry  eyes.  “  You  know 


824  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


this  stuff  ?  ”  said  the  commandant  to  me  as  he  filled  the 
glasses.  “  Ha  !  I  thought  so.  Just  got  it  out  !  He 
doesn’t,”  with  a  wink  at  the  Mudir ;  “  we’ll  make  the 
- drunk.”  I  said  I  thought  it  was  a  very  good  idea. 

The  commandant  was  a  sportsman  of  a  type  rare  in 
these  degenerate  days.  He  kept  us  in  fits  of  laughter, 
and  only  checked  his  flow  of  anecdotes  to  upbraid  the 
Mudir  and  myself,  who  drank,  he  said,  like  a  pair  of 
women.  We  had  to  confess  our  inability  to  keep  pace 
with  him,  but  we  were  doing  our  best.  By  the  time 
dinner  came  the  Mudir  of  police  was  three  sheets  in  the 
wind,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  author  of  this 
book  was  not  in  a  condition  to  observe  the  lunar  distance 
with  any  degree  of  accuracy.  The  dinner  consisted,  as 
usual  with  the  “  uneuropeanized  ”  Turks,  of  a  great 
number  of  courses  served  in  rapid  succession.  The  food 
is  very  good,  but  one  is  never  given  time  to  eat  it.  This 
habit  of  bolting  food  is  very  general  in  the  East  :  the 
Arabs  are  nearly  as  bad  as  the  Turks  in  this  respect. 
My  brother  and  I  were  once  the  guests  of  honour  at  a 
dinner  party  given  by  a  rich  Syrian  merchant  in  Tripoli. 
There  was  an  enormous  spread,  such  things  as  lambs  roasted 
whole  figuring  among  the  more  important  dishes  :  yet  the 
whole  thing  was  over  in  less  than  ten  minutes,  and  we  were 
herded  into  another  room  where  some  huge  jam  tarts,  each 
about  the  size  of  a  sponge  bath,  awaited  our  attentions. 

The  commandant  came  from  that  part  of  Herzegovina 
which  was  “jumped  ”  by  Austria  in  1908.  He  showed 
me  the  new  stamps  on  letters  he  had  just  received 
from  home,  and  we  agreed  that  this  matter  could  only 
properly  be  argued  out  under  the  walls  of  Vienna.  When 
our  hosts  at  last  took  their  departure  I  felt,  for  once, 
almost  grateful  to  the  Mudir  for  the  excessive  prudence 
which  had  prevented  his  allowing  them  to  entertain  us 
in  their  own  quarters. 

We  were  up  before  daylight,  but  not  before  the  com¬ 
mandant,  whom  we  found,  as  fresh  as  a  daisy,  strolling 
about  in  the  grey  dawn,  and  cracking  jokes  with  the  Arabs, 
with  whom  he  was  a  great  favourite,  as  they  were  saddling 
up.  He  had  brought  us  a  couple  of  bottles  of  the  absinthe 
to  see  us  to  the  coast.  “  He  thought  it  was  like  mastic  !  ” 
said  he  of  the  Mudir,  who  was  looking  depressed.  We 


RECAPTURE  AND  RETURN  325 

exchanged  addresses  before  parting,  and  he  promised 
to  let  me  know  when  there  was  a  prospect  of  anything 
amusing  in  Herzegovina. 

On  the  way  down  we  saw  many  signs  of  the  ravages 
of  war,,  villages  ruined  by  the  shell  fire,  houses  deserted, 
and  a  plentiful  crop  of  new-looking  graves.  The 
road  was  very  strongly  held  :  our  escort,  which  was 
furnished  by  the  blockhouse  line,  was  changed  every 
few  miles.  As  we  passed  each  post  a  bugle-call  signalled 
to  the  next  that  a  party  was  on  the  road,  and  indicated 
by  a  series  of  short  blasts  the  number  of  persons  com¬ 
posing  it.  There  was  an  examining  post  on  the  road 
near  Menakha  to  ascertain  the  names  and  descriptions  of 
all  travellers  before  they  were  allowed  to  enter  the  town. 

We  rode  by  night  from  Hageilah  to  Bagil,  and  halted 
the  whole  day  at  the  latter  place.  Here  the  Mudir 
received  an  official  visit  from  the  commandant,  a  “  Young 
Turk  ”  of  the  most  approved  type  (though  he  was  actually 
an  Arab),  dressed  in  a  very  smart  khaki  uniform  with 
much  gold  lace  and  white  kid  gloves.  He  was  accom¬ 
panied  by  a  staff  officer  of  the  same  description.  Being 
awakened  by  Hamdi  in  order  to  be  introduced,  I  hastened 
to  put  on  a  turban  and  jubbah,  for  as  it  was  very  hot  and 
a  dust-storm  was  blowing  I  was  scantily  attired  :  but  this 
coquetry  he  assured  me  was  quite  out  of  place,  and  when  I 
saw  the  Mudir  I  thought  so  too.  He  was  receiving  his 
visitors  dressed  in  a  white  cotton  nightgown,  which,  as  he 
had  mislaid  his  tarboosh  and  had  not  shaved  since  we  left 
Sanaa,  made  him  look  exactly  like  a  pantomime  ghost. 

We  started  at  sundown  for  the  ride  through  the  Tehama 
and  reached  Hodeidah  early  the  following  morning. 
Ahmad  made  me  eat  Kat,  which  he  said  was  invaluable 
on  a  night  march  owing  to  its  anti-soporific  properties.  It 
certainly  did  keep  me  awake,  but  how  far  that  effect 
was  attributable  to  the  drug  itself  and  how  far  to  the  pain 
of  dyspepsia  it  induced,  and  the  exertion  of  chewing  the 
beastly  stuff,  is  open  to  question. 

We  rode  into  the  town  of  Hodeidah  at  early  dawn  on 
June  9.  Although  the  expedition  which  ended  here  had 
been  an  absolute  failure,  had  accomplished  nothing  what¬ 
ever,  cost  a  great  deal,  and  entailed  a  fearful  waste  of  time, 
at  any  rate,  I  reflected,  we  had  had  a  run  for  our  money. 


FINIS 


We  were  kept  for  several  hours  in  the  “  Seraya.”  I  had 
made  no  inquiry  as  to  what  it  was  proposed  to  do  with 
us  in  Hodeidah,  and  though  I  expected  that  we  should 
be  handed  over  to  the  Consul  eventually,  I  was  prepared 
to  be  confined  for  a  short  time.  From  what  I  knew  of 
the  Consul  I  did  not  think  that  confinement  was  likely 
to  be  of  long  duration,  and  I  was  right,  for  about  ten 
o’clock  the  dragoman  of  the  Consulate  arrived  in  a  great 
hurry  to  demand  our  instant  release.  Treating  what 
the  Mudir  and  some  other  officers  were  saying  about  a 
receipt  as  so  much  bosh,  which  it  was,  he  pushed  me  out 
of  the  Seraya  by  main  force,  despite  their  indignant 
expostulations  :  and  that  was  the  last  I  saw  of  them. 
A  few  minutes  later  I  was  receiving  the  warmest 
welcome  from  Dr.  Richardson,  who  had  heard  of  our 
arrival  only  just  before. 

Not  even  regret  for  the  ignominious  failure  of  my 
expedition  could  detract  from  the  pleasure  I  felt  at  finding 
myself  once  more  beneath  his  most  hospitable  roof. 
For  the  first  time  for  six  months  was  talking  my  own 
language  to  a  fellow-countryman,  and  to  one,  moreover, 
with  whom  knowledge  made  for  sympathy.  An  Arabian 
proverb  says,  “Two  blessings  are  never  appreciated  till 
they  depart  :  health  and  safety.” 

The  Consul  listened  to  my  story  with  astonishment  and 
growing  indignation.  He  had  duly  received  my  urgent 
telegram  reporting  the  Vali’s  attempt  to  turn  me  out, 
and  had  made  haste  to  answer,  telling  me  not  to  leave 
Sanaa,  and  telegraphing  at  the  same  time  to  the  Vali 
to  know  what  he  meant  by  it.  He  had  been  rather 
puzzled  by  the  date  of  my  wire  and  had  not  seen  how  I 
could  get  the  answer  in  time.  This  my  story  explained. 
The  next  communication  he  had  received  had  been 
a  telegram  from  the  Vali,  saying  I  had  escaped, 

326 


FINIS 


327 


and  this  had  been  followed  in  twenty-four  hours  by 
another,  saying  that  I  had  been  discovered  hiding  in 
Shaoob,  and  stating  that  various  things,  such  as  the  fact 
of  my  wearing  chain  armour  and  being  stained  with 
indigo,  had  confirmed  all  his  suspicions  concerning  me. 

The  Consul,  under  the  impression  that  I  was  once  more 
back  in  my  house  in  Sanaa,  had  not  answered  this  despatch 
by  telegraph,  but  was  waiting  to  hear  details  from  myself. 
As  time  passed  and  no  letter  from  me  arrived,  he  had 
begun  to  get  anxious.  Some  curious  rumours  reached 
his  ears,  and  as  it  was  evident  that  something  mysterious 
was  taking  place,  he  had  decided  to  send  the  dragoman 
up  to  Sanaa  to  investigate.  Our  arrival  in  Hodeidah 
was  in  time  to  save  him  this  trouble  :  the  first  notification 
he  had  had  of  it  had  been  a  request  from  the  Mutassarif 
that  he  would  give  a  receipt  for  two  soi  disant  British 
subjects  who  had  been  sent  down  from  the  interior. 

His  Britannic  Majesty’s  representative  in  Hodeidah  is 
not  a  man  accustomed  to  put  up  with  nonsense  from 
any  one,  least  of  all  from  Turks,  old  or  young.  My  own 
inclinations  were  to  let  the  matter  rest  here.  I  had 
enough  to  be  thankful  for  in  returning  alive  :  and  I 
could  always  try  again  from  somewhere  else.  To  make 
a  fuss  now  would,  I  thought,  only  be  creating  difficulties 
for  myself  in  the  future.  The  Consul,  however*  declined 
to  consider  the  matter  in  this  light,  and  pointed  out  that 
it  was  not  a  question  of  my  personal  convenience,  but  of 
his  duty  to  the  country.  The  capitulations  had  been 
violated  in  a  dozen  different  ways,  he  himself  had  been 
ignored,  his  correspondence  tampered  with,  and  his 
assertions  discredited  in  a  manner  that  amounted  to 
an  insult  to  the  office  he  held.  As  for  our  treatment 
after  recapture,  it  would  be  most  harmful  to  British 
prestige  in  this  part  of  the  world  to  allow  so  gross  an 
outrage  on  any  British  subject  to  pass  without  exacting 
the  fullest  reparation  :  while,  with  an  Englishman  in 
question,  the  affair  assumed  a  very  serious  aspect 
indeed. 

I  cannot  describe  what  followed  in  detail,  because  it 
might  be  considered  that  the  contents  of  certain  docu¬ 
ments  on  which  I  was  asked  to  make  observations  should 
be  treated  by  me  as  confidential.  Any  one  curious  on 


328  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


the  subject  should  apply  to  the  Foreign  Office.  The 
Consul  sent  a  cablegram  to  the  Embassy  at  Constanti¬ 
nople,  in  which  he  stated  the  facts  of  the  case  and  sug¬ 
gested,  I  believe,  a  strong  line  of  action.  In  some 
extraordinary  manner  a  garbled  version  of  this  report 
found  its  way  into  the  Press  a  few  days  later.  An  ex¬ 
planation  of  this  incident,  kindly  vouchsafed  by  the 
Foreign  Office,  will  be  found  in  the  appendix. 

Ahmad  and  I  made  sworn  statements,  which  are  merely 
resumes  of  the  story  I  have  related  here.  I  stayed  in 
Hodeidah  until  it  was  certain  that  our  presence  as  witnesses 
would  not  be  required.  There  was  no  lack  of  evidence 
to  support  our  statements  :  quite  half  the  population  of 
Sanaa  were  eye-witnesses  to  most  of  the  facts  alleged. 
Indeed  the  truth  of  these  statements  was  never  seriously 
challenged.  The  Turkish  authorities  contented  them¬ 
selves  with  denying  everything  without  discussion,  which 
is  merely  the  Turkish  way  of  saying  that  you  can  “  go 
to  blazes.”  Mohammed  Ali  went  so  far  as  to  say 
he  did  not  know  I  was  an  Englishman,  and  even  the 
ingenuity  of  our  own  Foreign  Office  has  so  far  failed 
to  find  justification  for  this  “possibly  disingenuous” 
statement.  I,  personally,  have  no  hesitation  whatever 
in  characterizing  it  as  a  “  terminological  inexactitude.” 

■  H  •  •  d 

Hodeidah  is  not  the  most  pleasant  place  in  the  world 
to  spend  the  month  of  June.  A  strong  breeze  blew  most 
days,  which  rendered  the  heat  less  oppressive,  but  the 
dampness  at  this  season  is  extreme.  Another  serious 
cholera  epidemic  broke  out  about  this  time  and  caused 
great  mortality  in  the  town  and  among  the  troops  ;  and  the 
disaster  of  Geezan,  which  took  place  soon  after  my  arrival, 
still  further  embarrassed  the  situation.  The  authorities 
took  no  measures  to  cope  with  the  epidemic  beyond  direct¬ 
ing  special  prayers  to  be  said  in  the  mosques  and  issuing 
a  belated  order  prohibiting  the  sale  of  fruit  in  the  market. 

Despite  these  drawbacks,  thanks  to  the  hospitality 
of  Dr.  Richardson,  I  much  enjoyed  the  three  weeks  I 
spent  there.  The  day  of  the  coronation  was  made 
the  occasion  of  great  festivities.  In  the  morning  the 
Consul  held  an  official  reception,  to  which  came  in  turn 
the  various  classes  of  the  community :  the  Turkish 


FINIS 


329 


officials,  the  foreign  Consuls,  the  principal  merchants, 
and  so  forth.  The  poor  of  Hodeidah  were  then  fed,  to 
the  number  of  about  2,000.  Great  trays  of  meat  and 
rice  were  placed  in  the  road  outside  the  Consulate,  from 
which  traffic  was  temporarily  diverted.  In  the  afternoon 
the  Consul  entertained  the  British-Indian  merchants 
to  tea  at  the  tennis  court,  the  Consulate  was  illuminated 
at  night,  and,  as  the  dragoman  put  it  in  his  report  to  the 
local  paper,  “  the  sounds  of  rejoicing  continued  to  a  late 
hour.”  This  paper  is  published  in  Sanaa,  and  like  all 
newspapers  in  Turkish  provinces  contains  practically 
no  news.  Most  of  it  is  taken  up  with  the  movements 
of  Turkish  officials,  unreliable  accounts  of  Turkish 
victories,  and  homilies  to  the  Ashkeya  (the  miserable  ones) 
i.e.  the  rebels. 

I  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  Italian  Consul-General  during 
this  period.  He  was  still  excited  about  the  Sambook 
affair  and  the  misdeeds  of  “  that  bad  man  ”  Mohammed 
Ali.  We  decided  that  it  was  proper  to  demand  his  head 
on  a  charger  as  a  preliminary  to  all  further  negotiations. 
A  report  had  been  started  during  the  siege  that  Caprotti 
and  I  had  been  imprisoned,  some  said  executed,  by  the 
Turks  for  having  communication  with  the  enemy.  This 
story  had  reached  Italy,  not  England,  fortunately,  and 
had  been  the  subject  of  questions  in  the  Italian  Parlia¬ 
ment. 

Before  I  left  there  was  another  row,  over  a  Danish 
missionary  this  time.  This  gentleman  belonged  to  the 
inoffensive  class  of  missionaries  who  do  not  go  in  for 
active  evangelizing  but  try  to  do  good  by  selling  books. 
He  had  come  to  Hodeidah  for  that  purpose,  had  opened 
a  shop,  and  was  doing  a  brisk  business.  Bibles  in  especial 
seemed  to  be  selling  like  hot  cakes,  but  as  he  was  selling 
them  below  cost  price,  I  inclined  to  an  explanation  of 
this  fact  rather  different  from  the  one  he  favoured.  The 
Arab  of  these  parts  buys  his  books  on  the  same  principle 
as  his  bread  :  that  is  to  say,  size  and  weight  in  proportion 
to  price  influence  his  choice.  However,  he  had  a  lot  of 
other  books  beside  the  Bible  :  school  books,  works  on 
geography,  mathematics,  and  so  on,  all  authorized  to  be 
sold  in  the  Turkish  Empire  by  the  Minister  of  Education, 
and  bearing  the  official  cachet . 


330  A  MODERN  PILGRIM  IN  MECCA 


Now  the  Turk  hates  people  who  sell  books  :  he  would 
almost  rather  you  sold  machine  guns.  However  innocent 
they  may  appear,  it  is  difficult  to  know  for  certain  that 
they  contain  nothing  seditious — especially  when  one 
can’t  read  them.  Beside  which,  he  has  a  theory  con¬ 
cerning  the  desirability  of  educating  “  subject  races  ” 
that  finds  adherents  in  other  countries  beside  Turkey. 
Among  the  books  this  missionary  was  selling  was  a  little 
paper-backed  pamphlet  intended  for  children  at  the  age 
when  attractive  illustrations  act  as  a  carminative  for  the 
indigestible  matter  in  the  text.  This  book  had  on  the 
cover  a  picture  of  a  man  sitting  on  a  horse,  and  worse 
still,  holding  a  gun  !  It  was  sufficient :  the  shop  was 
closed  by  the  “  police  meister,”  as  the  missionary  called 
him. 

Unfortunately  for  the  “  police  meister,”  the  Mutas- 
sarif,  and  the  other  idiots  responsible,  this  missionary 
had  British  protection.  I  am  afraid  to  specify,  for  fear 
of  being  disbelieved,  in  how  short  a  time  his  shop  was 
opened  again  by  the  Consular  dragoman  and  a  couple  of 
kavasses.  Then  began  a  row,  in  which  of  course  the 
authorities  got  the  worst  of  it,  and  had  to  climb  down. 
The  only  argument  they  adduced  in  support  of  their  high¬ 
handed  action  was  that  the  Arabs  were  too  ignorant  to 
be  trusted  with  books.  “  But,”  said  the  Consul,  the 
missionary,  and  every  one  else  in  Hodeidah  not  being  a 
Turkish  official,  “  void  une  raison  de  plus.” 

•  •  •  •  • 

This  narrative  may  well  end  with  what  there  is  to  be 
told  concerning  some  of  the  people  who  figure  in  it,  in 
whose  fate  the  reader  may  perhaps  be  interested.  The 
Consul  remains  at  his  post  in  Hodeidah,  which  at  the 
time  of  writing  is  blockaded  by  Italian  warships.  The 
Italian  Consul-General  left  with  much  dignified  ceremonial 
at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  :  the  ill  feeling  to  which  the 
Sambook  affair  gave  rise  will,  it  may  be  hoped,  disappear 
in  the  presence  of  a  larger  issue.  Signor  Caprotti  left 
for  Italy  before  the  outbreak  of  war.  Muslih  was  set  at 
liberty  (I  am  informed  that  I  lost  my  “  action  ”  against 
him),  and  so  likewise  were  Suleiman  and  the  others 
implicated.  So  far  as  I  know  no  one  actually  came 
to  harm  over  the  business. 


FINIS 


331 


Ahmad,  who  has  a  passion  for  killing  things,  had  con¬ 
fided  to  me  early  in  our  acquaintance  that  his  great  am¬ 
bition  in  life  was  to  shoot  a  lion.  I  failed  to  arrange  this 
for  him,  but  together  we  shot  many  strange  beasts, 
among  them  a  couple  of  rhino  and  quite  a  nice  buffalo, 
the  true  father  of  horns  as  he  called  it,  besides  being 
charged  by  another  in  thick  bush,  which,  though  he 
stopped  it  with  a  very  pretty  shot  at  close  quarters, 
ultimately  got  away. 

Ahmad  came  to  the  conclusion  that  big-game  shooting 
on  the  Athi  river,  though  less  sensational,  was  better 
sport  on  the  whole  than  being  hunted  one’s  self  by  the 
Turkish  patrols  across  the  plain  of  Sanaa.  That  per¬ 
haps  was  almost  too  exciting. 


APPENDIX 


We  arrived  at  Hodeidah  on  June  9th.  The  British  Vice- 
Consul  sent  a  cipher  telegram  reporting  the  facts  of  the 
case  to  the  Embassy  at  Constantinople  on  June  11th.  The 
two  following  notices  appeared  in  the  Times : — 

The  Times,  Friday,  June  16,  1911  : — 

“  BRITISH  EXPLORER  ARRESTED  IN  ARABIA 
“  ILL-TREATMENT  BY  TURKISH  OFFICIALS 
“  (From  our  own  Correspondent) 

“  Constantinople, 

“  June  15. 

“  The  British  Embassy  has  been  informed  that  Mr.  Wavell, 
the  British  explorer,  who,  after  a  journey  in  East  Africa, 
visited  Yemen,  with  the  object  of  exploring  the  interior,  has 
been  arrested  by  the  Turkish  authorities.  He  was  paraded 
handcuffed  for  eight  hours  in  the  streets  of  Sanaa  ;  and, 
after  being  subjected  to  gross  indignities,  was  sent  to  Hodei¬ 
dah,  where  he  is  still  imprisoned. 


“  ***  A  letter  recently  received  in  London  from  Mr.  Wavell 
stated  that  on  account  of  the  fighting  between  the  Turks  and 
the  Arabs,  he  was  not  allowed  to  proceed,  but  was  being 
treated  in  quite  a  friendly  manner.  At  the  time  of  writing  he 
hoped  soon  to  be  able  to  get  away." 


The  Times,  July  4,  1911  : — 

“BRITISH  EXPLORER  ARRESTED  IN  YEMEN 

“THE  TURKISH  EXPLANATION 

“  (From  our  own  Correspondent) 

“  Constantinople, 

“  June  26. 

“  Mr.  Wavell,  the  British  explorer,  whose  arrest  was 

332 


APPENDIX 


383 


recently  reported  in  the  Times ,  was  handed  over  to  H.B.M.'s 
Vice-Consul  at  Hodeida  a  week  ago  by  the  Ottoman 
authorities. 

“  It  is  only  fair  to  give  the  Turkish  official  version  of  the 
circumstances  connected  with  Mr.  Wavelhs  arrest.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Izzet  Pasha,  the  commander  of  the  Yemen  Field  Force, 
Mr.  Wavell  was  at  Sanaa  during  the  blockade  of  that  town 
by  the  insurgents.  He  professed  to  have  become  a  Moslem 
and  to  have  visited  Mecca,  but  was  given  police  protection 
until  the  end  of  the  blockade.  After  the  withdrawal  of  the 
insurgents  he  appears  to  have  applied  for  permission  to 
travel  in  the  interior,  but  leave  was  refused  owing  to  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  country.  He  then,  according  to  Izzet 
Pasha,  attempted  to  give  the  authorities  the  slip,  and  left 
the  town  on  horseback  accompanied  by  his  servant  riding 
upon  a  donkey.  The  animals  were  discovered  near  the  town 
gates,  and  the  police,  imagining  that  Mr.  Waved  had  been 
murdered  or  carried  off  by  brigands,  instituted  a  search 
which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  explorer  disguised 
as  an  Arab.  As  Mr.  Waved's  baggage,  which  was  then 
searched,  contained,  as  wed  as  his  British  passport,  a  pass¬ 
port  wherein  he  was  described  as  a  subject  of  the  Sultan  of 
Zanzibar,  named  Ah,  the  authorities  decided  to  send  him 
under  escort  to  the  coast,  which  was  done.  Izzet  Pasha 
states  that  Mr.  Waved  was  not  ill-treated  at  ad,  and  that  his 
relations  with  the  police  officer  who  escorted  him  to  Hodeida 
were  most  friendly,  as  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  ex¬ 
plorer  dressed  and  cured  an  injury  to  that  functionary’s 
hand. 

“  Such  is  the  Turkish  official  version  of  Mr.  Wavell's  arrest, 
which  differs  most  materially  from  that  which  has  been 
communicated  from  Hodeida  to  H.B.M.'s  Embassy  at  Con¬ 
stantinople.  The  remarkable  discrepancies  between  the  two 
versions  suggest  the  institution  of  an  inquiry  as  to  what 
actually  did  take  place." 


When  I  arrived  in  England,  towards  the  end  of  the  year, 
I  endeavoured  to  ascertain  from  the  Foreign  Office  what 
action  had  been  taken  in  this  case.  I  found  that  though 
His  Majesty's  Ambassador  at  Constantinople  was  supposed 
to  be  protesting  or  sending  notes  or  doing  something  else 
severe  to  the  Sublime  Porte,  they  were  uninformed  in  Eng¬ 
land  as  to  the  details.  I  was  advised  by  a  friend  who  has 
experience  in  these  matters  that  if  I  wanted  anything  done 
I  must  exert  myself  and  that  I  should  do  well  to  put  in  an 


334 


APPENDIX 


enormous  claim  for  personal  damages.  At  the  Foreign  Office 
I  was  asked  to  write  a  letter  stating  my  claims  and  reasons 
for  putting  them  forward. 

The  following  correspondence  ensued.  In  “  fair  copying  ” 
I  may  have  slightly  altered  the  wording  of  the  first  and  fifth 
letters. 

“  To  His  Majesty’s  Permanent  Under  Secretary  of  State 

for  Foreign  Affairs. 

“  7,  Egerton  Gardens, 

“  14/11/11. 

“  Sir, 

“  I  have  the  honour  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
recent  action  of  the  Ottoman  Government  with  regard  to 
myself,  news  of  which  has  already  been  received  by  your 
department,  and  by  His  Majesty’s  Embassy  in  Constantinople. 
A  full  report  concerning  the  ill  treatment  and  illegal  im¬ 
prisonment  of  which  I  complain  was  to  my  knowledge  sent  by 
the  Hodeidah  Vice-Consulate  to  His  Majesty’s  Embassy  last 
June.  I  find  however  that  your  department  is  not  yet  in 
possession  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  that  no  reparation 
from  the  Ottoman  Government  has  hitherto  been  obtained. 

“  The  Vali,  Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  who  was  mainly  re¬ 
sponsible,  still  retains  his  position,  and  nothing  in  the  way  of 
an  apology  has  been  received  from  the  Porte. 

“  I  would  most  respectfully  venture  to  urge  that,  ordinary 
means  having  failed  to  secure  satisfaction  within  a  reasonable 
time,  some  forcible  measures  might  now  be  adopted. 

“  My  view  is  that  the  public  beating  and  imprisonment 
without  trial  of  British  subjects,  especially  when  one  of  them 
is  an  Englishman,  the  story  of  which  has  become  very  gener¬ 
ally  known  throughout  S.W.  Arabia,  is  not,  if  allowed  to  pass 
unpunished,  likely  to  enhance  our  prestige  in  that  part  of  the 
world.  This  is  apart  from  certain  flagrant  breaches  of  the 
capitulations  and  indeed  of  International  Law,  such  as 
the  action  of  the  Turkish  authorities  in  forcibly  preventing 
my  communicating  with  the  British  Consul  when  in  difficulty, 
which  I  cannot  think  His  Majesty’s  Government  intend  to  pass 
over  unnoticed  :  and  it  is  in  the  belief  that  your  department 
is  unaware  of  the  gravity  of  the  case  that  I  venture  to  pro¬ 
test  against  further  ineffective  action. 

“  I  must  point  out  that  this  is  a  cause  celebre  in  the 
Yemen  and  even  in  Aden,  and  that  so  far  as  its  effect  on  the 
minds  of  the  Arabs  is  concerned,  unless  action  is  taken  soon 
by  the  British  Government  it  might  just  as  well  not  be  taken 
at  all. 

“  As  regards  my  own  personal  interests  I  wish  to  claim  com- 


APPENDIX 


335 


pensation  to  the  extent  of  twenty  thousand  pounds  for  myself, 
and  five  thousand  pounds  on  behalf  of  my  servant  Ahmad, 
also  a  British  subject,  who  suffered  the  same  ill  treatment  as 
I  did. 

“  I  am  at  your  entire  disposition  to  furnish  any  particulars 
you  may  require.  Sworn  statements,  however,  by  myself 
and  my  servant,  together  with  other  evidence  collected  by 
His  Majesty's  Vice-Consul,  are  already  in  possession  of  His 
Majesty's  Embassy. 

“  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

“  Your  obedient  Servant, 

(Signed)  “  A.  J.  B.  Wavell." 


“No.  47437/11. 

“  Foreign  Office, 

“  December  8th,  1911. 

“  Sir, 

“  Secretary  Sir  E.  Grey  has  had  under  his  careful  con¬ 
sideration,  in  consultation  with  His  Majesty's  Ambassador  at 
Constantinople,  the  circumstances  of  your  arrest  and  treat¬ 
ment  by  the  Turkish  authorities  on  the  occasion  of  your 
recent  visit  to  the  Yemen. 

“From  the  terms  of  your  affidavit  of  June  12, 1911,  it  appears 
that  on  your  arrival  at  Hodeidah  you  were  questioned  by 
the  Turkish  authorities  as  to  your  motives  in  going  to  the 
country  ;  that  you  were  given  to  understand  that  you  would 
not  be  able  to  go  up  to  Sanaa  for  the  time  being  ;  that  some 
days  later  you  were  informed  that  a  telegram  had  been  received 
from  the  Vali  forbidding  your  journey  to  Sanaa  ;  and  that  in 
a  final  letter  from  the  Mutassarif ,  which  was  passed  on  to  you 
by  His  Majesty's  Vice-Consul,  it  was  intimated  that,  having 
regard  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country  and  the  insecurity 
of  the  road,  the  Ottoman  Government  did  not  feel  justified 
in  helping  you  in  your  plan  ;  that,  being  prepared  to  take 
risks,  you  left  Hodeidah  by  night  in  disguise  ;  that  soon  after 
your  arrival  at  Sanaa  you  were  placed  under  increasing 
police  supervision  on  the  pretext  of  preventing  your  assassina¬ 
tion  ;  that  the  authorities,  notwithstanding  assurances  to  the 
contrary,  entertained  suspicions  as  to  the  motives  of  your  visit ; 
that,  on  your  notifying  the  Vali  of  your  intention  of  leaving 
in  the  direction  of  Aden,  you  were  informed  that  he  had  re¬ 
ceived  instructions  ordering  your  immediate  deportation  ; 
that,  shortly  afterwards,  you  managed,  on  pretence  of  taking 
photographs,  to  make  your  escape  ;  that  you  and  your 
servant  were  recaptured  and,  after  being  subjected  during 


336 


APPENDIX 


your  return  to  ill  treatment,  were  imprisoned  for  some  days 
and  forcibly  brought  back  to  Hodeidah. 

4 4  You  claim,  as  compensation  for  this  treatment,  Twenty 
thousand  pounds  for  yourself  and  Five  thousand  pounds  for 
your  servant. 

44  The  Ottoman  Government,  with  whom  His  Majesty’s 
Ambassador  has  been  in  communication,  represent  that  you 
went  to  Sanaa  in  defiance  of  the  prohibition  of  the  authori¬ 
ties  ;  that,  in  consequence  of  the  political  situation  in  the 
Yemen,  the  authorities  thought  it  necessary  to  send  you  back 
to  Hodeidah  ;  that  on  learning  of  this  decision  you  effected 
your  escape  in  disguise  ;  that  none  the  less  you  were  treated 
with  consideration  ;  and  finally  that  you  were  brought  back 
to  Hodeidah. 

44  It  thus  appears,  both  from  your  own  account  and  from 
that  of  the  Turkish  Government,  that  you  left  Hodeidah  for 
the  interior  in  spite  of  the  express  prohibition  of  the  Turkish 
authorities,  and  that  you  did  so  clandestinely  ;  and  that,  after 
encouraging  suspicions  by  this  action,  you  again  attempted, 
on  pretence  of  taking  photographs,  to  evade  the  authorities 
by  escaping  from  Sanaa. 

44  There  is  some  discrepancy  in  the  two  accounts  of  the 
treatment  you  received  ;  but,  in  view  of  your  conduct  in 
acting  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  and  express  injunctions  of  the 
authorities,  Sir  E.  Grey  does  not  feel  that  it  would  be  either 
equitable  or  desirable  to  press  your  own  claim  or  that  advanced 
on  behalf  of  your  servant,  who  was  of  course  acting  under 
your  orders,  upon  the  Turkish  Government. 

44 1  am,  Sir, 

44  Your  most  obedient,  humble  Servant, 

44  Louis  Mallet.” 

“  7,  Egerton  Gardens,  S.W. 

“  18/12/11. 

44  The  Under  Secretary  of  State, 

Foreign  Office, 

London. 

44  Sir, 

44  With  reference  to  your  letter  47437/11  of  the  eighth 
instant. 

44 1  cannot  help  feeling  that  a  misapprehension  exists  in 
the  mind  of  the  Foreign  Secretary  as  to  my  motives  for 
claiming  redress  from  the  Turkish  Government.  I  obtained 
the  best  advice  I  could  on  the  subject,  which  was  to  the  effect 
that  my  protest  should  take  the  form  of  a  demand  for  sub¬ 
stantial  damages.  But,  as  this  advice  may  have  been  mis- 


APPENDIX 


337 


taken,  and  as  my  object  certainly  was  not  merely  to  obtain 
monetary  compensation,  I  wish  entirely  to  withdraw  all  claim 
as  regards  myself,  before  respectfully  requesting  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  State  to  reconsider  the  whole  matter  in  the  case  of  my 
servant  Ahmad. 

“  As,  Sir,  you  are  aware,  various  letters  received  from  the 
Turkish  local  authorities  have  been  passed  to  me  for  comment, 
and  I  do  not  think  I  am  indiscreet  in  saying  that  I  am  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  general  tenor  of  the  communications  that 
have  passed  between  the  Hodeidah  Vice-Consulate  and  His 
Majesty's  Ambassador  on  this  subject.  I  know  therefore 
that  the  truth  of  the  statements  made  by  Ahmad  and  myself 
in  our  affidavits  has  been  vouched  for  by  your  representative 
on  the  spot,  who  personally  examined  eye-witnesses  of  these 
occurrences.  I  do  not  think  therefore  that  the  Foreign 
Secretary  can  consider  our  statements  as  absolute  falsehoods, 
yet  he  prefers  to  accept  the  account  of  the  Turkish  Govern¬ 
ment.  You  say  *  there  is  some  discrepancy  in  the  two 
accounts  of  the  treatment  you  received.'  I  would  most 
respectfully  venture  to  point  out  that  they  are  mutually 
contradictory  in  almost  every  possible  particular. 

“  In  the  last  paragraph  but  one  of  your  letter  you  say  that 
the  two  accounts  agree  that  I  left  Hodeidah  in  spite  of  the 
express  prohibition  of  the  Turkish  authorities.  I  do  not 
admit  that  the  intimations  I  received  that  my  expedition  was 
not  viewed  with  favour  amounted  to  a  prohibition,  but  that  is 
not  the  point  I  wish  to  make.  If  you  will  refer  to  the  telegram 
sent  by  the  Vali  to  the  Vice-Consulate  seven  months  later,  on 
the  occasion  of  my  escape  from  Sanaa,  you  will  see  that  he 
says  he  did  not  know  I  was  a  British  subject !  Considering 
that  my  passport  was  ‘  vised '  at  Hodeidah,  that  the  Vali 
himself  claims  to  have  ‘  prohibited '  my  journey  on  this  very 
ground,  and  that  various  communications  had  passed  during 
those  months  between  the  Vilayet  and  the  British  Vice-Consu¬ 
late,  this  assertion  is  extraordinary  ;  and  I  merely  instance 
it  by  way  of  proving  that  other  statements  emanating  from 
the  same  source  may  well  be  received  with  caution.  I  may 
add  that  it  is  quite  as  near  the  truth  as  most  of  the  Vali's 
statements  in  his  letter  to  the  Vice-Consul  dated  7th  Tamuz, 
1227.* 

“  In  the  alternative  I  am  forced  to  conclude  that  Secretary 
Sir  Edward  Grey,  while  believing  my  statement,  considers 
that  the  Turks  were  justified  in  doing  as  they  did,  and  in  effect 
endorses  their  action.  In  other  words  they  are  justified  in 

♦Another  Turkish  “explanation” — quite  different  from  Izzet 
Pasha’s ! — Author. 

22 


338 


APPENDIX 


proceeding  to  almost  any  length  with  any  Englishman  in 
Turkey  who  has  the  temerity  to  disregard  the  4  wishes  and 
express  injunctions  '  of  the  local  authorities.  I  would  respect¬ 
fully  urge  that  the  danger  in  adopting  this  attitude  is  that  in 
consequence  other  British  subjects  will,  with  even  less  valid 
excuses,  be  arrested,  beaten,  or  knocked  about  with  muskets 
and  prevented  from  communicating  with  the  British  repre¬ 
sentative  as  was  the  case  with  me.  In  fact  in  these  circum¬ 
stances  the  capitulations  may  tend  to  become  a  dead  letter 
in  these  remote  districts. 

“  In  my  letter  of  November  14th  I  ventured  to  draw  your 
attention  to  reasons  which  in  my  opinion  rendered  it  most 
undesirable  that  this  case  should  be  allowed  to  drop.  I  will 
not  therefore  repeat  them  here  :  but  will  once  more  urge  on 
grounds  of  patriotism  and  public  policy  that  some  action  should 
be  taken  which  will  convince  both  the  Turkish  authorities 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Yemen  that  the  British  Government 
is  not  absolutely  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  their  subjects  or  the 
feelings  of  their  representative. 

“  I  do  not  suggest  that  the  Foreign  Office  is  in  any  way 
answerable  for  the  safety  of  travellers  in  wild  countries  or 
responsible  when  disaster  overtakes  them.  This  outrage  (as 
I  contend)  was  committed  by  the  officers  of  a  civilized  Govern¬ 
ment  in  the  capital  of  the  province,  and  I  hope  that  the  danger 
of  such  a  thing  happening  may  not  in  future  have  to  be 
reckoned  as  one  of  the  ordinary  risks  of  Arabian  travel. 

“  In  conclusion  I  would  like  to  protest  against  the  practice 
followed  in  this  case  by  His  Majesty's  Embassy  of  supplying 
information  to  the  press  in  cases  where  private  individuals 
are  concerned.  The  telegrams  giving  an  inaccurate  version  of 
the  affair  which  appeared  in  the  papers  both  in  this  country 
and  in  India  immediately  following  my  arrival  in  Hodeidah 
could  only  have  emanated  from  that  source.  They  have 
been  an  annoyance  to  me  and  cannot,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  have 
served  any  useful  purpose. 

“  I  am.  Sir, 

“  Your  most  obedient,  humble  Servant, 

44  A.  J.  B.  Wavell.” 


“  No.  557/12. 

“  Foreign  Office, 

“ January  16  th,  1912. 

“  Sm, 

“  With  reference  to  the  letter  from  this  Office  of  the 
21st  ultimo,  and  previous  correspondence  relative  to  your 


APPENDIX 


339 


recent  visit  to  the  Yemen  and  the  consequent  action  of  the 
Turkish  authorities,  I  am  directed  by  Secretary  Sir  Edward 
Grey  to  inform  you  that  he  has  received  a  despatch  from  His 
Majesty’s  Ambassador  at  Constantinople  reporting,  with  re¬ 
gard  to  the  point  raised  in  the  last  paragraph  of  your  com¬ 
munication  of  December  18th,  that  your  suggestion  that 
inaccurate  information  respecting  your  case  was  supplied  to 
the  press  by  His  Majesty’s  Embassy  is  founded  on  a  mis¬ 
apprehension.  So  far  as  Sir  G.  Lowther  remembers,  the  first 
news  on  the  subject  appeared  in  the  Times  in  a  form  which 
suggested  the  idea  that  it  was  derived  from  your  corre 
spondents  in  this  country.*  When  representations  were  first 
made  to  the  Sublime  Porte  relative  to  your  case,  journalists 
at  Constantinople  heard  of  it  and  made  inquiries  at  the 
Embassy,  to  which  the  reply  was  returned  in  general  terms 
that  it  was  true  that  there  had  been  an  incident  and  that,  in 
consequence  of  Sir  G.  Lowther’s  representations,  the  Turkish 
Government  had  promised  an  investigation.  Beyond  return¬ 
ing  such  answers  to  inquiries  no  communication  was  made  by 
His  Majesty’s  Embassy  to  the  press. 

“  I  am  also  to  offer  the  following  observations  on  the  re¬ 
maining  portion  of  your  letter. 

“It  is  stated  in  paragraph  2  that  you  wish  to  withdraw 
any  claim  on  your  own  behalf  and  it  is  requested  that  the  whole 
matter  may  be  reconsidered  in  the  case  of  your  servant  Ahmad. 

“  As  regards  this  request,  it  is  not  clear  to  Sir  E.  Grey  why 
your  servant,  whom  you  describe  as  ‘  a  British  subject  from 
the  Aden  Protectorate  ’  and  who  assisted  in  your  escape 
from  Sanaa,  should  be  treated  by  His  Majesty’s  Government 
more  favourably  than  yourself.  I  am  further  to  point  out 
that,  as  the  same  conditions  cover  both  claims,  the  withdrawal 
of  your  own  would  merely  have  the  effect  of  weakening  the 
case  in  support  of  that  put  forward  by  your  servant. 

“  As  regards  paragraph  3  of  your  letter  I  am  to  state  that 
Sir  E.  Grey’s  decision  not  to  support  your  case  was  not  ex¬ 
clusively  based  on  the  statements  contained  in  the  Turkish 
account  of  the  affair,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  pas¬ 
sage  in  the  letter  from  this  Office  of  the  8th  ultimo  : 

“  4  It  thus  appears,  both  from  your  own  account  and  from 
that  of  the  Turkish  Government,  that  you  left  Hodeidah  in 
spite  of  the  express  prohibition  of  the  Turkish  authorities, 
and  that  you  did  so  clandestinely  ;  and  that,  after  encouraging 
suspicions  by  this  action,  you  again  attempted,  on  pretence 
of  taking  photographs,  to  evade  the  authorities  by  escaping 
from  Sanaa.’ 


*  Compare  dates. — Author. 


340 


APPENDIX 


“  In  paragraph  4  you  say  :  ‘  I  do  not  admit  that  the  in¬ 
timations  I  received  that  my  expedition  was  not  viewed  with 
favour  amounted  to  a  prohibition.  ..." 

“  As  regards  this  statement  I  am  to  recall  your  attention 
to  the  following  passage  in  your  sworn  statement : 

“  ‘  Some  days  later  we  were  informed  by  the  Commissaire 
that  a  telegram  had  been  received  from  the  Vali  forbidding 
our  journey  to  Sanaa/  That  the  telegram  from  the  Vali  here 
referred  to  was  not  the  first  intimation  of  the  kind  that  had 
reached  you  is  proved  by  your  admission  (in  the  same 
sworn  statement)  that  the  Commissaire  at  Hodeidah  told  you 
on  your  arrival  there  that,  as  a  foreign  subject,  you  could  not 
go  up  to  Sanaa  for  the  present. 

“  Sir  E.  Grey  fails  to  see  how,  short  of  the  use  of  actual 
force,  a  more  explicit  prohibition  could  have  been  formulated, 
but  in  spite  of  this,  and  of  the  failure  of  His  Majesty's  Vice- 
Consul  to  obtain  permission  for  you  to  go,  you  decided  to 
undertake  the  journey,  which  was  therefore  made  entirely  at 
your  own  risk. 

“  As  regards  the  reflections  cast,  in  the  same  paragraph, 
on  the  veracity  of  the  Vali,  I  am  to  state  that  Sir  E.  Grey  has 
no  desire  to  champion  the  cause  of  that  official,  whose  account 
of  the  case  may  well  have  been  inaccurate  in  some  respects, 
but  his  denial  of  knowledge  that  you  were  a  British  subject, 
though  possibly  disingenuous,  may  be  explained  by  the  fact 
that  you  had  in  your  possession  a  Turkish  passport  which  he 
may  have  considered  himself  entitled  to  regard  as  possessing 
as  good  a  claim  as  your  British  one  to  be  taken  into  account 
as  evidence  of  your  true  nationality. 

“  As  regards  paragraphs  5,  6,  and  7  of  your  letter,  your 
defiance  of  the  orders  of  the  authorities,  first  at  Hodeidah  and 
later  at  Sanaa,  afforded  some  justification  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  strict  watch  on  your  proceedings  and,  in  spite  of  your 
assurances,  for  some  suspicion  of  your  intentions. 

“  In  Sir  E.  Grey's  opinion,  your  own  conduct  led  to  the 
treatment  which  you  received,  and  he  cannot  therefore  see  his 
way  to  make  any  further  representations  to  the  Turkish 
Government  on  your  behalf.  His  Majesty's  Government 
would  be  adopting  an  untenable  position  were  they  to  enter 
protests  or  make  claims  for  compensation  in  cases  where 
irresponsible  British  subjects,  disregarding  the  wishes  and 
orders  of  the  local  authorities,  undertake  surreptitious  journeys 
in  districts  where  the  suppression  of  rebellions  is  in  progress. 

“  I  am,  Sir, 

“  Your  most  obedient,  humble  Servant, 

“  Eyre  A.  Crowe." 


APPENDIX 


341 


“  Villa  Stella  Maris,  Biarritz,  France* 

“  January  21  st,  1912. 

“  The  Under  Secretary  of  State, 

“  Foreign  Office, 

“  London. 

“  Sir, 

“  In  reply  to  your  letter  557/12  of  the  16th  instant. 

“  With  reference  to  the  first  paragraph  I  would  state  that 
the  first  news  on  the  subject  appeared  in  the  Times  of  June  16th 
— only  a  very  short  time  after  the  Consul’s  report  therein 
alluded  to  could  have  reached  His  Majesty’s  Embassy.  I  can 
assure  the  Foreign  Secretary  that  the  information  was  not 
furnished  by  me,  and  it  could  not  have  been  derived  from 
any  correspondent  of  mine,  because  no  one  in  England  was 
aware,  at  that  date,  of  the  nature  of  the  occurrence.  It  seemed 
so  very  unlikely  that  the  version  of  the  incident  first  given 
could  have  emanated  from  any  Turkish  official  source,  that  I 
was  driven  to  conclude  that  His  Majesty’s  Ambassador  him¬ 
self  must  have  communicated  it. 

“  Since,  however,  you  inform  me  that  this  is  not  the  case 
it  only  remains  for  me  to  express  my  regret  for  having  made 
this  suggestion. 

“  As  regards  the  third  and  fourth  paragraphs  of  your 
letter  I  must  explain  that  I  ventured  to  request  that  the  case 
of  my  servant  Ahmad  should  be  reconsidered  because  I  am  act¬ 
ing  practically  as  his  agent  in  the  matter,  and  am  therefore 
bound  to  press,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  any  just  claim  for 
pecuniary  compensation  he  may  have.  May  I  further  observe 
that  I  have  been  claiming  on  both  his  and  my  own  behalf  what 
I  had  believed  was  a  right  shared  by  ‘  British  subjects  from 
the  Aden  Protectorate  ’  equally  with  those  from  other  parts 
of  His  Majesty’s  dominions. 

“  The  passage  from  my  sworn  statement  quoted  in  your 
letter  requires  its  context.  The  information  in  question  was 
conveyed  to  us  verbally  by  the  Commissaire.  You  will  observe 
that  in  the  subsequent  official  correspondence  between  His 
Majesty’s  Vice -Consulate  and  the  local  authorities  there  is 
no  question  of  prohibition.  You  allude  to  the  failure  of  His 
Majesty’s  Vice-Consul  to  obtain  permission  for  me  to  go.  May 
I  point  out  that  he  never  asked  for  such  permission  because 
he  did  not  admit  that  any  permission  was  required  ?  Per¬ 
haps  I  may  be  pardoned  for  having  preferred  to  be  guided  in 
my  actions  by  this  rather  than  by  a  casual  statement  made 
by  a  minor  official.  Without  wishing  to  unduly  elaborate 
this  point  I  should  like  to  observe  that  His  Majesty’s 
Vice-Consulate  was  actually  in  communication  with  the  local 


342 


APPENDIX 


authorities  at  the  time,  and  that  it  is  curious,  to  say  the  least 
of  it,  that  the  Vice-Consul  should  not  have  been  informed  of 
the  receipt  of  such  a  telegram  from  the  Vali  at  the  time. 

“  The  Vali's  reputation  for  veracity  cannot  be  defended  in 
the  manner  suggested  by  Sir  Edward  Grey.  His  Excellency 
stated  that  ‘  he  did  not  know  I  was  a  British  subject '  in  a 
telegram  to  the  Vice -Consulate  sent  on  the  11th  Mais,  on  which 
date  he  was  unaware  of  the  existence  of  my  c  Turkish '  passport. 
That  document  did  not  fall  into  his  hands  till  twenty-four  hours 
later,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  two  telegrams.  I 
cannot  see  that  in  any  case  it  would  have  justified  him  in 
doubting  my  nationality  unless,  indeed,  he  does  not  know  that 
Zanzibar  is  a  British  protectorate.  As  you  are  doubtless  aware 
the  Ottoman  Government  is,  or  was,  in  the  habit  of  issuing 
passports  to  intending  pilgrims  of  other  than  Ottoman  nation¬ 
ality. 

“  In  the  last  paragraph  but  one  you  say  e  As  regards  para¬ 
graphs  5,  6,  and  7  of  your  letter  your  defiance  of  the  authorities 
first  at  Hodeidah  and  later  at  Sanaa  afforded  some  justification 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  strict  watch  onyour  proceedings  and,  in 
spite  of  your  assurances,  for  some  suspicion  of  your  intentions/ 
In  the  paragraph  5,  here  alluded  to,  I  urged  that  the  ‘  danger 
in  adopting  this  attitude  is  that  in  consequence  other  British 
subjects  will  with  even  less  valid  excuses  be  arrested,  beaten, 
or  knocked  about  with  muskets  and  prevented  from  com¬ 
municating  with  the  British  representative  as  was  the  case 
with  me/  Such  treatment  does  not  seem  to  me  compatible 
with  even  the  strictest  surveillance.  As  regards  the  suspicions 
entertained  by  the  authorities,  it  is  only  unofficially  that  I 
have  been  informed  of  their  nature.  They  amounted  ap¬ 
parently  to  a  belief  that  I  was  engaged  in  espionage  on  behalf 
of  the  British  Government.  I  absolutely  deny  that  I  ever 
did  or  said  anything  that  could  possibly  lend  colour  to  this 
extraordinary  idea. 

“  May  I  venture  to  point  out  that  if  the  Turkish  authorities 
rightly  disapproved  of  my  presence  in  the  Yemen,  they  had  a 
simple  remedy  at  their  disposal  ?  They  had  merely  to  apply 
to  His  Majesty's  Embassy  to  order  my  return,  or  if  necessary 
to  authorize  my  deportation.  None  the  less,  throughout  the 
six  months  I  spent  in  Sanaa,  during  part  of  which  time  I  was  in 
frequent  communication  with  His  Majesty's  representative 
in  the  country,  I  received  no  intimation  whatever  that  my 
presence  there  was  so  distasteful  to  the  British  Government 
that  they  proposed  to  deny  me  the  right  to  claim  reparation 
for  injury  ordinarily  accorded  to  British  subjects  in  Turkey 
and  elsewhere. 


APPENDIX 


343 


“  Sir  Edward  Grey  considers  that  my  own  conduct  led  to 
the  treatment  I  received.  In  my  opinion  this  conduct  was 
justified  by  the  illegal  and  violent  action  of  the  Vali  in  threat¬ 
ening  to  deport  me  without  the  authorization  of  His  Majesty’s 
representative  and  in  stopping  my  communication  to  the 
latter.  In  any  case,  whether  justified  or  not  in  attempting  to 
escape,  no  excuse  can  be  made  for  the  proceedings  which 
followed  our  recapture. 

“  As  regards  the  last  paragraph  of  your  letter  I  must  again 
point  out  that  the  suppression  of  a  rebellion  was  not  in  pro¬ 
gress  when  I  undertook  the  journey.  I  do  not  admit  that 
what  I  have  done  justified  the  epithet  ‘  irresponsible  ’  nor  do 
I  see  how  a  journey  which  has  been  the  subject  of  constant 
official  correspondence  from  its  outset  can  properly  be  de¬ 
scribed  as  surreptitious. 

“  I  shall  communicate  the  Foreign  Secretary’s  decision  to 
the  other  British  subject  concerned,  and  Sir, 

“  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

“  Your  most  obedient,  humble  Servant, 

“  A.  J.  B.  Wavell.” 

The  reader  of  course  will  form  his  own  opinion.  Mine 
is  that  the  first  letter  would  have  better  expressed  the  true 
state  of  the  case  had  it  begun  somewhat  in  this  way  : 

“  Sir, 

“  Sir  Edward  Grey  and  His  Majesty’s  Ambassador  at 
Constantinople  have  been  putting  their  heads  together  to 
find  an  excuse  for  not  interfering  in  your  case,  because  it  would 
be  very  inconvenient  to  do  so.  The  following  is  not  very  good, 
but  it  is  the  best  they  can  do.  We  hope  that  it  may  prove 
to  be  out  of  your  power  to  make  much  fuss  about  it — et  seq .” 

I  believe  that  by  taking  the  side  of  the  Turks  in  this  case 
the  Foreign  Secretary  is  making  a  mistake.  I  do  not  doubt 
he  thinks  he  is  serving  the  best  interest  of  the  country  by 
declining  to  take  action,  and  the  public  may  agree  with  him. 
We  shall  see. 


■ 


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followed  in  the  map,  and  the  spelling  of  place  names  will 
be  found  to  differ  in  some  instances  from  that  of  the  text. 


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* 


INDEX 


Aas,  Amru-bn-il,  13 
Abbas,  tomb  of,  145 
Abd-ur-Rahman,  140,  141,  142 
Abdul  Hamid,  Sultan  of  Turkey, 
46,  60,  183,  186,  187,  193, 
195,  217 

Abdul  Wahid,  28  et  seq.  ;  goes 
to  Persia,  177  ;  decides  to  go 
to  Yemen,  205 ;  leaves  Ho- 
deidah,  221 

Abdullah  Waridie,  44,  50,  54,  55, 
148 

Abha,  255 

Abraham,  the  patriarch,  26  ; 

makam  of,  130,  131 
Abu  Bakar,  10,  12,  13,  16  ;  tomb 
of,  68,  71,  75 

Abu  Talib,  7,  9  ;  tomb  of,  145 
Abyssinians,  invade  Yemen,  197 
Aden,  225 ;  tanks  of,  196,  291, 
292 

*iElius  Gallius,  7,  196 
Ahadeeth,  19 

Ahmad,  225  et  seq..  Appendix 
Ahmad  Feizi  Pasha,  200,  259,  280 
Ahmad,  Sheikh,  241,  264 
Albanians,  the,  284,  285 
Alexandria,  13  ;  our  arrival  at, 
30  ;  departure  from,  33 
Ali,  ibn-Abee-Talib,  7,  9,  10,  11, 
12,  14,  19  ;  in  Yemen,  198,  199 
Ali  Bey,  2 

Angels,  Moslem  beliefs  concern¬ 
ing,  17,  91 

Arabia,  area  of,  1  ;  geography 
of,  2  et  seq. 

Arabic  language,  5 ;  dialects 
of,  32,  33,  68,  104,  241  ; 

literature,  138,  139 
Arabs,  origin  and  character  of, 
5,  6  ;  conquests  of,  13  et  seq.  ; 
colour  of,  41 

Arafat,  Mount,  153,  154,  159 
Arki,  249,  260 

Arms  of  Hedjaz  Arabs,  60  ;  of 
Yemen  Arabs,  247,  259 ;  of 
Turks,  89,  259 


Army,  Turkish,  272,  273,  274,  280 
Arnaut,  203 

Artillery,  Turkish  in  Medina,  83  ; 
in  Sanaa,  253,  254  ;  Arab,  200, 
254,  257,  258 
Asir,  4,  201,  204,  255 
Asr,  257,  261 

Assassination,  Oriental  views  on, 
9,  240,  241 

Bab-el- Sabah,  306 
Bab-el- Yemen,  306 
Badr,  battle  of,  10,  12,  15 
Bagdad,  67 
Bagil,  229,  286,  325 
Bahreia,  125,  174 
Bakeia  cemetery,  63,  77 
Bakili  mosque,  242,  244 
Bedou,  6,  33 ;  description  of, 
59,  60  ;  war  with,  62  et  seq.  ; 
also  105 

Beggars,  76,  145 
Benee  Abbas,  15,  198 
Benee  Hashim,  9,  76 
Benee  Omayah,  14,  15 
Beyrout,  36 

Bosnia  and  Hertzegovina,  78,  324 
Bribery,  Turkish  views  on,  92 
Britain,  interests  of  in  Arabia,  4  ; 
in  Turkey,  193  ;  prestige  of, 
194 ;  alleged  intrigues  with 
Imam,  261,  239  ;  Appendix 
Burchardt,  traveller  to  Mecca,  2 
Burchardt,  German  traveller  in 
Yemen,  238,  239 
Burton,  Sir  Richard,  2,  33,  138 
Byzantium,  7,  13,  249 

Caliphate,  4,  13,  18,  19,  20,  46,  58 
Caliphs,  Arab,  13,  21 
Camels,  travelling  by,  97,  98, 
104,  229  ;  of  the  Shareef,  169 
Capitulations,  the,  214,  215,  239, 
327,  Appendix 

Caprotti,  Signor,  236,  237,  238, 
239,  245,  262,  263,  291,  296, 
302,  317,  318 


345 


346 


INDEX 


Caravans,  in  Hedjaz,  98,  99 
“  Casino,”  of  Hodeidah,  209 ; 

of  Menakha,  231,  232 
Cholera,  143,  154,  155,  162,  168, 
223  ;  outbreak  in  Yemen,  279, 
328 

Christ,  Moslem  ideas  concerning, 
17 

Christianity,  21,  22,  23 
Christians,  17,  18  ;  of  Sanaa,  248 
Coffee,  in  Yemen,  230,  246 
Commissaire,  of  the  Hodeidah 
police,  210,  211,  217,  Appendix 
Constantinople,  “  capture  of,”  265 
Consul,  British,  Vice,  of  Hod¬ 
eidah,  212,  213,  217,  221,  224 
et  seq .,  Appendix 
Consul-General,  Italian,  219,  220, 
221,  224,  329,  330 
Consuls,  in  Turkey,  214 
Copts,  13 

Coronation,  celebrations  at  Ho¬ 
deidah,  328,  329 

Crucifixion,  references  in  Koran 
to  the,  18,  24 

Damascus,  13,  40  et  seq. 

“  Daurah,”  the,  245,  246 
Derweishes,  25,  65,  70 
Deserts,  of  Arabia,  3,  56,  57,  59, 
105,  201 

Devils,  stoning  the,  161 
Disguise,  41,  179,  294 
Doughty,  the  Arabian  explorer, 
57,  105 

Dragoman,  the  consular,  213, 
215,  217 

Dress,  Syrian,  49 ;  of  Hedjaz, 
73,  118  ;  of  Sanaa,  246  ;  of 
Jews,  249 

Elephant,  Battle  of  the,  197 
Embassy,  British  at  Constanti¬ 
nople,  284,  328,  Appendix 
Eunuchs,  71,  82,  83 
Eve,  tomb  of,  121,  122 

“  Falerno,”  the,  29 

Fatimah,  8,  19  ;  tomb  of,  68,  75 

Fattah  Bey,  315 

Foreign  Office,  27,  291  ;  author’s 
correspondence  with,  Appendix 
Foreign  Secretary,  291,  Appendix 
Freemasonry,  in  Arabia,  322,  323 

Gebel  Nugoom,  235,  251,  254,  295 
Geezan,  Turkish  disaster  at,  308, 
328 


Gendarmerie,  256 
Genoa,  29 
Glaser,  203,  204 

Grey,  Sir  Edward,  Appendix  ; 
see  also  “  Foreign  Secretary  ” 
and  “Foreign  Office” 

Haddah,  277,  300,  312 

Hadramout,  3,  203 

Hageilah,  230,  286,  325 

Hagi,  definition  of,  27,  28,  154,  204 

Haifa,  36 

Hail,  1,  2,  4 

Halevy,  203 

Hambali  sect,  20 

Hamdi  Effendi,  265,  266  et  seq. 

Hamza,  89,  90,  91,  92 

Hanafi  sect,  20 

Haram,  definition  of,  68  ;  of 
Medina,  69  et  seq. ;  of  Mecca, 
130  et  seq. 

Haroun-er-Raschid,  14,  132 
Hartfi  Bey,  315 

Hashish,  246  ;  effects  of,  271,  272 
Hassan,  11,  15 
Hassan,  Sheikh,  51 
Hedjaz,  physical  geography  of,  4 
Hegrah,  10 

Himyaritic  dynasty,  197  ;  in¬ 
scriptions,  202 

Hodeidah,  arrival  at,  208  ;  de¬ 
scription  of,  216  et  seq ;  our 
escape  from,  227,  228 
Hugronge,  2 

“  Hukumeh,”  the,  286,  310,  313 
Hussein,  11,  15;  Sheie  venera¬ 
tion  for,  160 


Ibb,  279 

Ibrahim,  95,  106 
Ibrahim  (son  of  Iman),  67 
Idreesie,  the,  254,  255,  308 
Ihram,  53,  117,  120  ;  of  the 
Kaaba,  152  ;  also  153,  155, 
156,  157,  164 

Imam,  duties  of  an,  46,  92,  198, 
199 

lmam,  the,  218,  252,  254,  256, 
257,  258,  260,  261,  289,  290, 
306,  311,  312,  313 

Imams,  of  Sanaa,  199 

lman,  67  et  seq. 

Instruments,  105,  205,  206 
Islam,  foundation  of,  7  et  seq.  ; 

tenets  of,  16,  17,  18,  19,  20 ; 
compared  with  Christianity, 
21,  22,  23 


INDEX 


Izzet  Pasha,  255  ;  relieves  Sanaa, 
278,  279,  280,  281,  282,  283, 
286,  310,  312,  Appendix 

Jaffa,  95  et  seq. 

Javanese,  the,  129,  139,  140 
Jerusalem,  26,  68,  244 
Jews,  4,  8,  17,  18 ;  of  Sanaa, 
243,  249,  260 

Jiddah,  118  et  seq.  ;  departure 
from,  124  ;  return  to,  175 
Jinn,  mosque  of  the,  147  ;  and 
footnote 

Justification  by  faith,  18 

Kaaba,  8,  11,  26,  130,  131,  138, 
146,  151 

Kaa-el-Yahood,  241,  243,  250 

Kadhi,  of  Sanaa,  316,  317,  318 

Kamaran,  221,  222 

Kasim,  8,  11 

Kat,  245,  246 

Katiba,  291 

Keane,  2 

Kepi,  144,  145,  168 
Kerbela,  14,  24 

Khadijah,  7,  9,  11  ;  tomb  of, 
145;  house  of,  146,  147 
Khalid,  1 98 
Khandak,  10 
Khaulan,  312,  315 
Kibla,  26,  46 
Kishr,  240,  303,  313 
Kiswah,  152 
Kohl,  92 

Koran,  8,  12,  16,  17  et  seq.  ; 

also  71,  75,  196,  197 
Koreish,  7,  58 

Magil,  the,  295 
Mahdi,  24 

Mahmal,  50,  66,  93  ;  Egyptian, 
152,  174;  also  155,  156 
Makam,  of  Mohammed,  69 ;  of 
Abraham  and  Ishmael,  130 
Maliki  sect,  20 

Marib,  196,  202,  204,  289,  290, 
291,  303 

Marseilles,  28,  29 
Masaudi,  28  et  seq. ;  goes  to 
Mombasa,  177 
Mastic,  see  “  Arki  ” 

Matinah,  see  “  Senam  Pasha  ” 
Maulid,  56 

Mecca,  visitors  to,  2,  4 ;  birth¬ 
place  of  Mohammed,  7,  8,  9 ; 
capture  of  by  Mohammed,  11  ; 
by  Wahabies,  24  ;  history  of, 


347 

26 ;  our  arrival  at,  128  ; 
description  of,  129  et  seq.  ; 
departure  from,  173 ;  also 
178,  179,  204 
Medain  Salih,  57,  58 
Medicine,  among  the  Arabs,  321, 
322 

Medina,  visitors  to,  2,  4  ;  Mo¬ 
hammed’s  flight  to,  10 ;  in¬ 
trusion  of  unbelievers  forbidden, 
27  ;  our  arrival  at,  59 ;  de¬ 
scription  of,  63,  64  et  seq.  ; 
mosque  of,  68  et  seq. 

Menakha,  231,  232,  275,  279  ; 

Turkish  commandant  of,  323 
Miftah,  Mohammed,  122,  128 
Millah,  raising  of,  256  ;  desertion 
of,  256  ;  also  309,  310 
Mimbar,  46 

Mina,  153,  155,  157,  161,  165; 

mosque  of,  169 
Minnaean  dynasty,  196 
“  Missieh,”  the,  207,  208,  315 
Mocha,  216 

Mohammed,  history  of,  7  et  seq.  ; 
death  and  character  of,  12  ; 
tomb  of,  68  et  seq. 

Mohammed  Ali,  Viceroy  of  Egypt, 
2,  24,  199 

Mohammed  Ali,  Governor- General 
of  the  Yemen,  181,  183,  224, 
240,  253  ;  makes  sorties  from 
Sanaa,  275  ;  also  280  et  seq.. 
Appendix 

Money,  Turkish,  260,  261 
Money-changers,  in  Hedjaz,  148 
Mosque,  Ommaya,  45,  46,  47. 

See  also  “  Haram  ” 
Mouawiyah,  14,  15 
Muadhin,  26,  71 

Mudir  of  police,  262,  265,  et 
seq..  Appendix 

Mufattish  of  police,  262  ;  letter 
from,  264 

Mukhtar  Pasha,  199 
Muscat,  33 
Museilima,  198 

Muslih,  288,  289,  295,  301,  304, 
316,  317,  318,  331 
Mutassarif  of  Hodeidah,  211,  212, 
213,  217,  218,  220,  223,  224 
Mutowifs,  64,  65,  69,  80,  82,  87, 
119,  178 

Nafud,  3 

“Napani,”  the,  238,  263,  293 
Negd,  4,  24,  203 
Negraan,  203 


INDEX 


348 

Newby,  Captain,  221 
Newspapers,  147,  194,  329 
Niebuhr,  199,  202 
Nimrah,  153,  160,  161 

Oman,  3,  4 

Omar,  13  ;  tomb  of,  68 

Palgrave,  2 
Parliament,  Turkish,  187,  217 
Passports,  28,  189,  204,  210,  312, 
Appendix 

Patriotism,  Near  Eastern  views 
on,  185  et  seq. 

Pelly,  2 

Persians,  160  ;  in  Yemen,  197 
Pilgrimage,  institution  of,  26,  27  ; 

also  153  et  seq. 

Plague,  34,  155,  223 

Polygamy,  21,  22 

Port  Said,  35 

Prayers,  46,  47,  243 

Predestination,  18 

Press,  the,  in  war,  303,  309 

Quarantine,  35,  36,  168,  176, 

177,  223 

Railway,  Hediaz,  54  et  seq.  ; 

Yemen,  285 
Rainfall,  3,  4 

Ramadan,  20,  40,  42,  43,  44 
Raudha,  235,  244 ;  bombarded, 
252 

Religions  in  Near  East,  23,  185 
et  seq. 

Riadh,  1,  2,  4,  203,  204 
Richardson,  Doctor,  222,  326,  328. 

See  also  “  British  Vice-Consul  ” 
Riza  Bey,  213 

Robbers,  58,  59,  103  ;  daring  of, 
163,  166,  175  ;  punishment 

of,  166;  also  233,  238,  239 
Rukka,  71 

Saa,  132,  153,  164 
Saad,  100,  103,  104,  106 
Saba,  6 

Sabsean,  196,  197,  202,  203 
Sacrifice,  162,  170 
Saeed,  Mohammed,  129,  130,  149 
Safa  and  Marawa,  132,  164 
Saleef,  223 

Sambooks,  209 ;  the  Sambook 
affair,  219,  220,  221,  329 
Sanaa,  2,  6,  199,  200,  201,  202, 
203,  204  ;  our  arrival  at,  235, 
236  ;  description  of,  241,  242  ; 


mosques  of,  243,  244  ;  in¬ 

habitants  of,  245-50  ;  climate 
of,  251  ;  siege  of  252  et  seq.  ; 
battles  round,  252,  275,  276, 
277,  278  ;  relief  of,  278,  284; 
we  escape  from,  298  et  seq.  ; 
our  final  departure  from,  319 
Senam  Pasha,  234,  252,  257  ; 

defence  of,  279,  280,  310,  311 
Senussi,  24 
Seraya,  210,  326 

Shafei  sect,  20  ;  makam  of,  130 
Shaharah,  254,  310,  315 
Shaoob,  244,  253  ;  battle  of, 
275,  276,  277  ;  also  295,  302, 
303  327 

Shareef  of  Mecca,  135,  147,  150, 
151  ;  holds  a  levee,  167  ;  in¬ 
vades  Asir,  255 
Sheba,  Queen  of,  196 
Sheia  (and  Sheie),  19 ;  customs 
of,  159,  160;  also,  198 
Sheikh  of  Islam,  18 
Sheria,  248,  311,  318 
Shugduf,  97,  103,  104 
Sibhah,  1 66 
Simsarah,  233 

Slavery,  6,  22,  68,  142,  143,  144, 
185 

Sook-el-Khamis,  230,  232,  233, 
292  293 

Suleiman,  288,  295,  296,  311, 
316,  331 
Sunna,  19,  198 

Taif,  4,  136 

Tehama,  228,  231,  254,  325 
Testaments,  the,  10 
Tourists,  in  Turkey,  190,  191 
Towaf,  64,  130,  132,  136,  153,  163 

Uhud,  10,  58 

Vali,  217;  see  also  “Mohammed 
Ali” 


Wahabi  sect,  4,  24,  47,  48,  199 
Women,  in  Moslem  countries, 
21,  22,  143  ;  dress  of,  in 

Sanaa,  247 

Yahyah,  the  founder  of  the 
Zaidie  sect,  199 

Yahyah,  the  Imam,  see  “  The 
Imam  ” 

Yazeed,  16 


INDEX 


Yembu,  we  start  for,  100  ; 
arrive  at,  109,  110 

Yemen,  inhabitants  of,  6  ;  history 
of,  196,  197  ;  Turkish  occupation 
of,  200,  201,  202  ;  products  of, 
216 

Yerim,  279 

Young  Turkey,  in  Damascus,  49  ; 
in  Medina,  78  ;  in  Mecca,  147  ; 
origin  and  growth  of,  186 
et  seq. 


349 

Yusuf  Pasha,  281 

Zaidie  sect,  origin  of,  198,  199, 
200,  201  ;  mosques  of,  243, 
244  ;  revolt  of,  254  et  seq. 
Zanzibar,  28,  32,  65,  66,  67,  78, 
144 

Zeinab,  50 

Zemzem,  130,  131,  136,  141 
Ziyarah,  91 


PRINTED  BY 

HAZELL,  WATSON  AND  VINEY,  LD. 
LONDON  AND  AYLESBURY. 


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